Background/Purpose: Persistent high rates of STDs in U.S. communities of color (e.g. African Americans and American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) urgently require more effective intervention strategies to reduce this public health burden. In 2007, Blacks represented only 12 percent of the total U.S. population, but made up about 70 percent of gonorrhea cases and almost half of all chlamydia and syphilis cases in 2007(48% and 46%, respectively). Also in 2007, AI/AN comprised approximately 1.5% of the U.S. population, but the reported rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis were 1.7 to 4.5 times higher than comparable rates for Whites.

Objectives of Symposium: To describe the disparate burden of STDs among racial/ethnic and minority sexual orientation populations (e.g. men who have sex with men); introduce the concept of cultural leveraging; and demonstrate the use of cultural leveraging in the design and delivery of sexual health interventions to reduce STD disparities.

Implications for Programs, Policy, and/or Research: Intraventions require community investment in the design and delivery of intervention services. STD programs can use cultural leveraging principles such as: relying on community input to develop STD prevention messages, employing lay health educators to conduct STD health outreach and promote screening and treatment, and ensuring culturally competent providers to improve STD health outcomes in underserved communities and reduce STD disparities among those at highest risk.