The impact of STDs on a community can be moderated when family physicians and local public health departments collaborate. The department’s role includes providing information on the local epidemiology of STDs; assistance in screening, testing, and treating; and, depending on available resources, notifying sexual partners. Many larger public health departments operate a publicly funded STD clinic for patients and sexual contacts who lack financial resources.
Family physicians can screen high-risk persons, use recommended treatment regimens, report communicable diseases as required by state statute, and assist with partner notification by urging patients to cooperate with the local health agency and, if public health partner notification is not available, urging patients to notify their sexual partners.
