by Newton Kendig, MD

Correctional health professionals, in collaboration with local public health agencies and community health care staff, are key stakeholders for diagnosing and treating sexually transmitted infections (STIs). As a guide to correctional health care best practices, my colleagues and I on the NCCHC Research and Policy Committee recently developed a newly revised and updated position statement on Screening, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections. This position statement replaces and expands upon the previously issued NCCHC position statement from 2020 titled STI Testing for Adolescents and Adults Upon Admission to Correctional Facilities.

The new statement updates STI screening, diagnostic, and treatment recommendations based on current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines and adds additional recommendations for STI education and prevention. The recommendations provide overarching guidance on when to conduct opt-out admission testing for STIs as well as specific diagnostic strategies such as self-swab specimen collection and implementing point-of-care testing.

The position statement also highlights the important role correctional health professions play in promoting health literacy for individuals in the carceral setting by providing health education and risk reduction counseling regarding STI transmission, prevention, and treatment. Finally, the statement emphasizes the critical public health importance of transition care coordination and discharge planning for treated and untreated patients with confirmed or suspected STIs.  

Our hope is that this updated position statement will serve as a useful and evidence-based blueprint for STI management programs in jails, prisons, and juvenile facilities. Implementation of these recommendations will promote the health of our patients in the carceral setting, advance public health more broadly, and play a strategic role in reversing our nation’s STI epidemic.  

Read the Screening, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections position statement here. See all NCCHC position statements here.

Newton Kendig, MD, is a member of the NCCHC Board of Representatives liaison to the American College of Physicians, vice-chair of the NCCHC Policy and Research Committee, and a professor of medicine at The George Washington University.