Latest News On Sexual Health

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Young People Are Having Less Sex Than Their Parents Did at Their Age. Researchers Explore Why.

KFF Health News Original

The percentage of young adults not having sex was rising even before covid made dating harder. Data and research suggest economic precarity, technology, and the warping effects of porn on sexual attitudes may play a role.

California: proyecto de ley exigiría que estudiantes universitarios se vacunen contra el VPH

KFF Health News Original

Estudios han confirmado que la vacuna contra el VPH reduce el riesgo de desarrollar cáncer en casi un 90% cuando se administra a niñas y niños en la adolescencia temprana, presumiblemente antes de que estén expuestos a cepas peligrosas del virus.

California Bill Would Mandate HPV Vaccine for Incoming College Students

KFF Health News Original

A state lawmaker wants all incoming college students to get an HPV vaccine, as part of a push to drive up vaccination rates and prevent cervical cancer. At least four other states have enacted a similar mandate.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': GOP House Opens With Abortion Agenda

Podcast

Leaders of the new Republican-led U.S. House kicked off their legislative agenda with two bills supported by anti-abortion groups. While neither is likely to become law, the move demonstrates how abortion will continue to be an issue in Washington. Meanwhile, as open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act nears its end in most states, the number of Americans covered by the plans hits a new high. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.

Un nuevo uso de las aplicaciones de citas: perseguir infecciones sexuales

KFF Health News Original

Con un surgimiento de las infecciones de transmisión sexual, trabajadores de salud pública encuentran en los apps de citas un espacio ideal para mensajes de prevención y rastreo de contactos.

A New Use for Dating Apps: Chasing STDs

KFF Health News Original

For contact tracers of sexually transmitted diseases, telephones and text messages have become ineffective. Dating apps increasingly are their best bet for informing people of their exposure risks.

As STDs Proliferate, Companies Rush to Market At-Home Test Kits. But Are They Reliable?

KFF Health News Original

The popularity of at-home covid tests has amplified calls from public health researchers and diagnostic companies to make home testing similarly routine for sexually transmitted diseases. But FDA guidelines are lagging.

Texas, Battling Teen Pregnancy, Recasts Sex Education Standards

KFF Health News Original

As Texas adjusts to a near-total abortion ban, Texas schools are redoubling efforts to end teen pregnancies by enacting new standards for sexual health education. Beyond focusing on abstinence, they are teaching middle schoolers about contraceptives and preventing sexually transmitted infections. But parents must opt in for their children to get the lessons.

Court Ruling May Spur Competitive Health Plans to Bring Back Copays for Preventive Services

KFF Health News Original

The Affordable Care Act required that health insurers provide many medical screenings and prevention services at no out-of-pocket cost to health plan members. But insurers and employers may consider adding cost sharing for preventive services now that a federal court ruled the ACA’s mandate is unconstitutional.

Southern States’ Lackluster Monkeypox Efforts Leave LGBTQ+ Groups Going It Alone

KFF Health News Original

The gay community is disproportionally affected by the monkeypox outbreak, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says public health efforts should prioritize gay and bisexual men. But in the South, some LGBTQ+ advocates fear that this is not happening consistently. They say they are having to take matters into their own hands in the absence of a coordinated response from state governments.

Public Health Agencies Adapt Covid Lessons to Curb Overdoses, STDs, and Gun Violence

KFF Health News Original

Know-how gained through the covid pandemic is seeping into other public health areas. But in a nation that has chronically underfunded its public health system, it’s hard to know which changes will stick.

Critics Worry Government Surveillance of HIV May Hurt More Than It Helps

KFF Health News Original

Some people living with HIV and some state health officials are raising concerns about part of the federal effort to end the HIV epidemic: a new technology that analyzes blood samples to find emerging outbreaks. The critics say it’s too invasive and stigmatizing and might not be more effective than older public health approaches.

Las clínicas de salud sexual luchan sin medios contra la viruela del simio

KFF Health News Original

Las clínicas que tratan las enfermedades de transmisión sexual —que ya se enfrentaban a un aumento explosivo de enfermedades como la sífilis y la gonorrea— se encuentran ahora en la primera línea de la lucha para controlar el brote de viruela del simio, que crece rápidamente.