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Proposal says students should be encouraged to get STD testing

Category: Sexually Transmitted Diseases

The updated state health curriculum approved Friday by the Utah Board of Education recommends that schools in the state should teach students about the importance of getting an STD test, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

"If they're sexually active, they should get in and get tested and that should be taught and encouraged," said Liz Zentner, health commissioner with the state PTA, according to the Tribune.

The change comes during a nationwide rise in the rate of STDs that has not spared Utah. Data for 2007 shows that rates of Chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV are all on the rise in the state. According to the Utah Department of Health, Salt Lake County saw a 32 percent rise in HIV infection in 2008 over 2007 and a more than 280 percent rise in gonorrhea.

Nationally, the CDC reported in January that they got 1.1 million reports of sexually transmitted chlamydia, making it the largest number of cases ever reported to the CDC for any condition.

The Parent Teachers Association and Planned Parenthood advocated for adding information about the importance of early testing and detection into the curriculum.