U.S. Deliberately Infected Guatemalans With Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Staff / Truthdig Sep 2, 2011 The United States conducted experiments on unsuspecting Guatemalans in the 1940s in order to test the effectiveness of penicillin on STDs. According to the BBC, "some 1,300 prisoners, psychiatric patients and sex workers were deliberately infected with syphilis, gonorrhea" and other diseases. (more) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Staggering Rise in HIV Infection Among Young Black Males

Staff / Truthdig Aug 3, 2011 The incidence of HIV infection among young, black American males who have slept with men shot up 48 percent between 2006 and 2009, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (more) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Porn Industry Drags Its Feet on HIV Probe

Staff / Truthdig Apr 17, 2011 According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control, the U.S. porn industry attempted to block an investigation into the HIV infection of one of its actors, illustrating the dangers in an increasingly unregulated industry. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Pope’s Progress

The Rev. Madison Shockley / Truthdig Dec 4, 2010 Now, can millions of Catholics around the world be free to use condoms and worship God? Can thousands of priests and others free their tongues and hands to help fight the scourge of AIDS and not worry about the “evil” of condom use?Finally, Pope Benedict XVI has opened the theological door to affirming condom use to help stem the spread of HIV in the world. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

More Big Condom News From the Pope

Staff / Truthdig Nov 24, 2010 Now there's a headline we didn't count on writing anytime soon, at least not with this news under it: Pope Benedict XVI followed his surprising words about male prostitutes and condoms with a clarification, according to one Father Federico Lombardi (continued). Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

A Doctor in Your Pocket

Staff / Truthdig Nov 13, 2010 In an effort to curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, British doctors and computer engineers are developing small electronic devices that act as tiny STD testing kits, pluggable into a smart phone or computer that then allows users to learn in minutes which, if any, STDs they have. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

U.S. Apologizes for Infecting Guatemalans With STDs

Staff / Truthdig Oct 1, 2010 More than 60 years after the fact, the U.S. has finally gotten around to officially apologizing for a government research study that purposely infected Guatemalans with sexually transmitted diseases to gauge the effectiveness of penicillin treatments. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Bush Baby Boom

Staff / Truthdig Jul 21, 2009 Yet another report confirms, as The Guardian explains, "that rates of teen pregnancy and STDs are, after more than a decade of decline, once again on the rise." Thanks to President Bush's abstinence-only sex education agenda, black, Hispanic and poor women are more likely to have unwanted pregnancies. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Bad News, Abstinence Fans

Staff / Truthdig Mar 12, 2008 If ever there was irrefutable evidence that abstinence education doesn't quite work, this is it. A new study from the Centers for Disease Control finds that at least one in four U.S. teenage girls is infected with a sexually transmitted disease. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Texas Governor’s Order for Cancer Vaccine Blocked

Staff / Truthdig Apr 27, 2007 Gov. Rick Perry of Texas has been rebuked by the state Legislature for ordering Texan girls to be vaccinated against HPV, the leading cause of cervical cancer. Lawmakers passed a bill by a comfortable margin that would block the governor's order for four years. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Teen Sex Less Risky in Europe Than U.S.

Staff / Truthdig May 18, 2006 Western European teens have fewer pregnancies, and lower levels of STDs, than their American counterparts. Why? Because teens in Europe have easy access to contraceptives, confidential healthcare and comprehensive sex education. Teen sex is seen as a healthy thing. (Compare that to America's puritanical, ineffective abstinence programs.) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Oral and Anal Sex Acts Are Up Among Teens

Staff / Truthdig May 11, 2006 There has been a "significant increase" in the proportion of teens and young adults engaging in such acts during the last decade, according to STD clinics in Baltimore. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )