Time to take responsibility for women’s health in Tennessee

For the first time in several years, Tennessee has received a failing score in its 2009 Tennessee Women’s Health Report card.

This report focuses primarily on women’s reproductive health, measuring Tennessee women against national benchmarks and goals for STI reduction.

Our failing scores present a mixed-bag of problems. On one hand, the raw data suggest that more women are infected with entirely preventable and curable STIs.

On the other hand, there is a possibility that more women realize that these infections are dangerous, and are being tested more often.

Either way, now is not the time to slack off in our efforts to make Tennessee a healthier state. The fact remains that we have a high rate of STI infection compared to the rest of the country.

Since testing is more available than now than ever, we have the opportunity to make serious reductions in STI infection.

The benchmarks we’ve missed are the ones that measure infection rates among different segments of the population. That means that some groups of women get tested, and some don’t. These are the things on which to focus.

This is not to say that men should get a pass, either. There ought to be a report card for men’s health. It takes two to tango, so it logically follows that if women are catching STIs, they’re catching them from men, at least most of the time.

This report card is a long-overdue wake-up call for a state that has lagged in women’s health for years.

These infections are entirely preventable, and mature, intelligent, sexually-active men and women should all be interested in staying clean.

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