Shame shame - STD defamation website makes it personal

When a person gets diagnosed with an STD, its courtesy to contact current and former partners and let them know. This way they can take care of themselves too and everyone is happier. If it sounds scary there are systems in place to help you, like the STD division of your local public health department or inSPOT.org. These systems have been built with yours and your partners' privacy in mind.

So...I wasn't too happy this morning when I saw this article thud into my inbox. Put out by Citizen-Times.com, the article titled "Web site lists people with STDs -- Whether they have them or not," made me super grumpy. The site professes to be an international list of people with STDs. And anyone can post an addition to the site, regardless of truth. And yes, there is a list of names, complete with city, state, age and gender.

But, slow down a second. What if it is true? Isn't that person owed the same courtesy they just showed their partner by telling them in confidence? Don't we want to be reinforcing the habit of privately sharing this information with those who need to know because their health depends on it? Can't the response simply be, "Thank you for telling me. I'll get tested."

So what can we do here? Public humiliation is obviously going to dig us deeper in the wrong direction.

1. If you are sexually active make testing regularly part of your routine. Go with a friend if that helps. Get online and tap into the HIVtest.org database that includes both STD and HIV testing resources nationally. In San Francisco, STDtest.org provides a private, cheap way to test, with results securely accessed online by a unique identifier.

2. Share your results with your partner(s) and inquire about theirs. Build trust and sleep easier. Need help figuring out what to say? That's normal. Here's a guide.

3. Learn about the STDs and how they are transmitted, treated and prevented. Inspot.org has easily digestible information as does SF City Clinic.

Wow inSpot Wow!

I am declaring this week inSpot week in the ISIS office. And you know that inSpot has to up to something big to get this title so early in the week! First, on Monday Plos Medicine, a peer reviewed open access journal, published an article on inSpot. Click here to read it! Now, inSpot is getting some heavy attention from major media players.

Check out these links:
inSpot on ABC News
inSpot on MSNBC
inSpot on CNN Health

Reuters inSPOT snowball - and that's a good thing

On Valentine's Day Reuters touted inSPOT as another tool in the tool belt for putting the smack on rising syphilis rates in New York City. We agree, it's a sharp tool indeed.

Quick to follow Reuters was the DC culture blog Heybeus who called us inSPOT creators "tech-savvy, crotch burny San Franciscan[s]." And we totally take that as a compliment.

And the snowball gained ground... another wink and a nod from Vermont and our own local wit, SF Weekly.

More buzz = more awareness about STD and HIV notification options = more responsibility taken!

KOKH FOX Oklahoma gives inSpot a nod.

Something about inSpot.org being call the "disease website" is kinda funny. Thanks KOKH FOX Oklahoma for spreading the word.

inSPOT NYC gets a boost

Michael Bloomberg himself, New York City's Mayor, cited inSPOT/NYC as an important tool to help stop the spread of syphilis. The city is experiencing a hike in cases, and has been for the last few years. Check out Reuters Valentine's Day coverage.

Inspot is an easy way to tell your partners that you care about them and that they should get tested. Sometimes its not easy to tell people face to face, or you may not know how to find someone except by email. That's why there's inSPOT!

If you live in New York City and want to find a place to get tested for syphilis, the inSPOT website includes a map that is searchable by zip code.

There are free testing services available in all burroughs, so don't delay. It's just a little stick, but it makes a big difference.

Deb rocks on Real Life Real Talk radio

Deb Levine, ISIS Executive Director and founder, joined Real Life Real Talk yesterday for a radio interview. Check out Deb as she talks about ISIS' growth, inSPOT expansion, issues with verifying sex information online, and about the upcoming Sex::Tech conference and Fresh Focus Video Contest.

Check it out here. Go Deb!

Podcast interviews: The stars of ISSTDR '07

I'm a little tardy with this one, but in early August Eric Whitney, ISIS' associate director, had the pleasure of going to the ISSTDR (International Society for STD Research) conference this year in Seattle. In this podcast interview Eric highlights the Sex::Tech conference (coming soon in January '08) as well as our tried and true, Inspot. Yay Eric.

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Here are the stellar voices of Doug Richardson from the Denver Public Health Department and Rachel Kachur from the CDC discussing the early days of the STD and Internet Center of Excellence (a Sex::Tech sponsor) and the future of mobile prevention tools.

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In this podcast, Don Clark, director of NCSD, bring us up to speed with national efforts to integrate HIV/STD/TB/Hep, STD funding fights in Washington and the state of the internet guidelines project of which two chapters may be released this fall at the annual NCSD meeting in New Orleans.

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