Richland County has seen a decline in sexually transmitted diseases since 2019

MANSFIELD – Sexually transmitted diseases in Richland County have declined by about 28 percent since 2019, according to the latest available statistics from Richland Public Health.

This is in stark contrast to national figures for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and may be related to a three-year grant awarded to the RPH in 2019 to help educate youth prone to higher-risk behavior.

STIs or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are infections that are transmitted from one person to another through sex.

According to the RPH’s newly released annual report, 622 cases of STI were reported in Richland County in 2023 – 408 cases of chlamydia, 170 cases of gonorrhea and 44 cases of syphilis.

These totals have declined annually since 2019, when there were 865 STDs. Richland Public Health recorded 647 cases of chlamydia, 214 cases of gonorrhea and two cases of syphilis that year.

In 2020, there were 780 STI cases in Richland County, decreasing to 696 in 2021 and 622 in 2022.

According to statistics released in 2023 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sexually transmitted diseases reached a record high across the country in 2022 for the eighth consecutive year.

“Data show a 74 percent increase in syphilis over five years, as well as 2,800 cases of congenital syphilis in 2021, including 220 that resulted in infant deaths,” the CDC said.

(Below is a PDF file of Richland Public Health’s 2023 Annual Report. The report contains a variety of local public health information, including population statistics on births and deaths, environmental health details, and public health and local WIC program information.)

Federal grant to reduce sexually transmitted diseases

In 2019, RPH received a three-year grant valued at $300,000 per year from the Ohio Department of Youth Services’ Personal Responsibility Education Program.

PREP is a federally funded program that “provides an evidence-based adult education curriculum to youth ages 14 to 21 living in foster care, group homes, assisted living, juvenile justice, or alternative schools,” RPH said in 2019.

“This segment of youth is more likely to engage in risky behavior and is more vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases, is more likely to become teenage parents and/or has greater difficulties in the transition to adulthood,” the agency said in announcing the funding.

The grant would provide training for staff in a 20-county area, including Ashland and Crawford, to implement the PREP curriculum with the youth they serve.

When the grant was announced, Dr. Julie Chaya was the Director of Public Health and Prevention Services at RPH.

“Preparing and supporting our youth to grow into responsible, healthy and successful adults is critical to the continued development of our community,” said Chaya, now RPH’s health officer.

“Investing in our region’s youth gives them the opportunity to think critically about how the personal choices and life decisions they make today impact their adult life experience,” she said at the time.