Sexually transmitted diseases: a neglected public health priority.

Sexually transmitted diseases remain uncontrolled although millions of cases occur annually in the United States. The advent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which is also a sexually transmitted disease, has not altered this situation. The major portion of federal funding for sexually transmitted diseases is allocated to a search for an AIDS vaccine or cure. State health department funding for sexually transmitted diseases, although only a small fraction of the $1.3 billion AIDS research budget of the National Institutes of Health, is largely consumed by AIDS. A single adequately funded sexually transmitted disease control program that applies well-established public health principles for the control of communicable diseases would make sense. However, a consensus to develop and support such a program does not exist in the United States.