[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 183 (Monday, September 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59321-59322]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-20677]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Request for Information: STI National Strategic Plan 2021-2025 
Available for Public Comment

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Health and Human 
Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of 
Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP) in the Office of the 
Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) announces the draft Sexually 
Transmitted Infections National Strategic Plan 2021-2025 (STI Plan) 
available for public comment. The draft STI Plan may be reviewed at 
www.hhs.gov/STI.

DATES: All comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. ET on October 1, 2020 
to ensure consideration.

ADDRESSES: All comments must be submitted electronically to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol Jimenez, OIDP, 
[email protected], 202-401-5131.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Persistent rises in the rates of sexually 
transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States constitute an 
epidemic and public health crisis with profound implications for all 
Americans. In recent decades, rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, 
congenital syphilis, and human papillomavirus have increased 
significantly. The rate of chlamydia, the most prevalent STI, increased 
by greater than 200% from 2011 to 2018.\1\ In just over a decade, the 
rate of gonorrhea rose by greater than 80% from a historic low. The 
rates of primary and secondary syphilis and of congenital syphilis 
increased every year since 2001 and 2012, respectively.\2\ Human 
papillomavirus (HPV), the most common STI, accounts for 14 million new 
STI infections each year.\3\ Left untreated, STIs can lead to 
significant health consequences.
    To spur action to reduce STI rates and their adverse public health 
impact, OASH through OIDP, in collaboration with federal partners 
throughout HHS and other departments, led and coordinated development 
of the inaugural STI Plan. Opportunities for public input were 
provided, and public comments received were reviewed, and analyzed and 
helped inform the components of the STI Plan.
    The STI Plan is intended to serve as a roadmap for all stakeholders 
at all levels to guide development of policies, initiatives, and 
actions for STI prevention and control. The STI Plan focuses on four of 
the STIs that have the greatest impact on the health of the nation: 
chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and HPV. However, most of its 
components are also applicable to other prevalent STIs.
    The STI Plan presents a strategic framework for integrating and 
leveraging synergistic policies, programs, and resources. It sets forth 
a vision and goals for the nation, with objectives and strategies for 
each goal. The objectives and strategies offered in this plan are 
interrelated and may be used to make progress toward more than one 
goal. The STI Plan identifies priority populations (i.e., those 
populations disproportionately impacted by STIs based on national data) 
to guide national efforts to realize the highest impact on reducing 
STIs. The STI Plan also includes indicators to measure progress and 
quantitative targets for each indicator. Although it is a 5-year plan, 
it sets 10-year quantitative targets for each indicator--reflecting the 
reality that it will take more than 5 years to reverse, not just slow, 
the upward trajectory of rising STI rates, and to eliminate the 
epidemic. The order in which the goals, objectives, strategies, and 
indicators are presented is not associated with any prioritization.
    The following are the STI Plan's vision and goals. Vision: The 
United States will be a place where sexually transmitted infections are 
prevented and where every person has high-quality STI prevention, care, 
and treatment while living free from stigma and discrimination. This 
vision includes all people, regardless of age, sex, gender identity, 
sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, disability, geographic location, 
or socioeconomic circumstance. Goals:

1. Prevent new STIs
2. Improve the health of people by reducing adverse outcomes of STIs
3. Accelerate progress in STI research, technology, and innovation
4. Reduce STI-related health disparities and health inequities
5. Achieve integrated, coordinated efforts that address the STI 
epidemic

    A roadmap for stakeholders at all levels and sectors, the STI Plan 
envisions a whole-of-nation response to preventing and controlling STIs 
in the United States. The STI Plan assumes the active participation of 
state, local, and tribal health departments and organizations, health 
plans and health care providers, schools and other academic 
institutions, community- and faith-based organizations, scientists, 
researchers, and the public in this effort. The priority populations, 
indicators, and quantitative targets, especially the methods used to 
determine them, are intended to help focus efforts and limited 
resources to realize the most impact. Stakeholders are encouraged to 
focus on activities that resonate the most with the needs of the 
populations they serve and services they provide, and, using the STI 
Plan as a framework, develop their own plans to reverse the rise of 
STIs and improve the health of their communities, states, tribal 
nations, and the nation.

Information Needs

    The draft STI Plan may be reviewed at: www.hhs.gov/STI.
    OIDP seeks to obtain feedback from external stakeholders on the 
following:
    1. Do the draft plan's goals, objectives, and strategies 
appropriately address the STI epidemic?
    2. Are there any critical gaps in the STI Plan's goals, objectives, 
and strategies? If so, please specify the gaps.
    3. Do any of the STI Plan's goals, objectives and strategies cause 
concern? If so, please specify the goal, objective or strategy, and 
describe the concern regarding it.
    Please be succinct and limit your comments to a maximum of seven 
pages.

    Authority: 77 FR 15761 (March 16, 2012).

    Dated: September 15, 2020.
B. Kaye Hayes,
Acting Director, Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy.

Footnotes

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sexually Transmitted 
Disease Surveillance 2018. U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services; 2019. Accessed June 22, 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/std/

[[Page 59322]]

stats18/STDSurveillance2018-full-report.pdf
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sexually Transmitted 
Disease Surveillance 2018. U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services; 2019. Accessed June 22, 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/std/stats18/STDSurveillance2018-full-report.pdf
3. About HPV. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed July 
14, 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/hpv/parents/about-hpv.html

[FR Doc. 2020-20677 Filed 9-18-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-43-P