Infertility Prevention Project

About the Project

CDC's Division of STD Prevention, in collaboration with the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), supports a national Infertility Prevention Program (IPP) that funds chlamydia and gonorrhea screening and treatment services for low-income, sexually active women attending family planning, STD, and other women's healthcare clinics. Key IPP partners include the Indian Health Service's national STD prevention program, state and local family planning and STD programs, family planning regional training centers and state public health laboratories. This program has shown that routine screening of women can reduce chlamydia prevalence and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) incidence in women. From its start in 1988 as a demonstration project in Region X, IPP has expanded to include all ten federal U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) regions.

Each IPP is a collaborative effort among CHT staffers, representatives of state family planning and STD programs, public health laboratories and other key stakeholders. Regional IPP partners meet several times a year to review project goals and objectives and advise CHT on activities. These advisory groups address common program elements, including:

• Clinical care — screening, treatment and partner management;
• Training and education — clinicians, laboratorians, epidemiologists, etc.;
• Laboratory technology — test performance, purchasing, turn-around-time, quality assurance; and
• Surveillance — data collection, management and analysis, as well as reporting of local, state and regional findings.

Some History

In 1988, the Center for Health Training began a comprehensive chlamydia (CT) screening project at Title X family planning (FP) clinics in USPHS Region X (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington). During the next 10 years CT screening led to a reduction of over 60% in CT positivity among young women aged 15-24 years seen at 150 FP clinics.

In 1993, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expanded its chlamydia prevention demonstration projects to include Regions III, VII, and VIII. Funding for this expansion was the result of legislation enacted by Congress (Preventive Health Amendments of 1992) that authorized activities for what is now known as the Infertility Prevention Program (IPP). The key components of the IPP as authorized by Congress in 1992 are to provide:

• CT/GC screening, treatment, counseling and follow-up services for women
• Partners of women with screening and treatment
• The public with information and education about prevention and control
• Training to health care providers.

By the mid-1990's, IPPs were in place in all ten USPHS regions.

Resources

CDC/National Resources

National Infertility Prevention Project

National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Annual Report for 2009

National Chlamydia Coalition

• Why Screen for Chlamydia? An Implementation Guide for Healthcare Providers

Division of STD Prevention Strategic Plan 2008-2013

Fact Sheets

• Chlamydia
• Gonorrhea

Programs & Campaigns

• Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project
• CDC—Chlamydia Screening, HEDIS and Managed Care

Treatment Guidelines

• Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Guidelines 2006
• Updated recommended treatment regimens for gonococcal infections and associated conditions United States, April 2007
• Update to CDC's Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Guildelines, 2006: Fluoroquinolones No Longer Recommended for Treatment of Gonococcal Infections

Laboratory

• National Chlamydia Laboratory Committee
• Association of Public Health Laboratories

Data and Statistics: www.cdc.gov/STD/stats/default.htm

• Sexually Transmitted Diseases Surveillance, 2007
• 2007 Chlamydia Prevalence Monitoring Project Annual Report
• 2007 Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project Annual Report

Health Disparities: www.cdc.gov/STD/health-disparities/default.htm

Consultations

• Addressing Social Determinants of Health: Accelerating the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB (December 9-10, 2008)
• Consultation to Address STD Disparities in African American Communities
• Male Chlamydia Screening Consultation (March 28-29, 2006)

Other Key Resources

• Expedited Partner Therapy
• Expedited Partner Therapy in the Management of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
• Health Communication
• HEDIS
• CDC—Chlamydia Screening, HEDIS and Managed Care
• Take Action on HEDIS
• Partner Services
• Recommendations for Partner Services Programs for HIV Infection, Syphilis, Gonorrhea and Chlamydial Infection
• Practical Use of Program Evaluation among STD Programs
• Program Collaboration and Service Integration: Enhancing the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and Tuberculosis in the United States

American Indians/Alaska Natives

• Indian Health Service National STD Program
• Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
• HIV/STD Prevention Center
• Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board
• Project Red Talon
• Red Talon STD Profile, October 2005
• Red Talon STD Resource Manual, May 2006
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases: An Advocacy Kit for Tribal Leaders
• Native STAND Curriculum
• American Indian/Alaska Native Fact Sheets, National Coalition of STD Directors

Other Guidelines/Measures

• Laboratory Diagostic Testing for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Association of Public Health Laboratories and CDC, January 2009
• National Guidelines for Internet-based STD and HIV Prevention, National Coalition of STD Directors, March 2008
• Screening for Chlamydial Infection, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, June 2007
• Social Media Tools for Consumers and Partners - Guidelines & Best Practices, January 2010, www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia/Tools/guidelines/