Sex+Health

In 1996, Alan and Sarina Kaye founded the National Cervical Cancer Coalition (NCCC) with a simple but powerful goal: to make sure people affected by cervical cancer and HPV had somewhere to turn for information, support, and hope.

From its earliest days, the need was clear. Calls, emails, and letters came in from people looking for accurate information about cervical cancer and HPV. NCCC responded by providing resources, creating educational materials, raising awareness, and working to reduce the stigma surrounding HPV and gynecologic cancers.

While much has changed since 1996, the heart of NCCC's work remains the same: supporting people affected by cervical cancer and HPV while giving communities the information and resources they need to advocate for their health.

Learn more about NCCC

https://www.nccc-online.org

Donate to the 30 for 30 Campaign

https://www.nccc-online.org/celebrating-30-years/

The latest statistics on STIs offer some good news—chlamydia cases are down for the second year and gonorrhea cases are down for a third year. Unfortunately, congenital syphilis increased for the 12th year in a row. Fred Wyand reflects on this news with ASHA interim CEO Becca Karpinski, in a wide ranging discussion on the current state of STIs in the U.S. Listen to learn about new options in STI home testing, ways we can prevent congenital syphilis, and why stigma and shame should have no part in your sex life. Resources

• Own the Awk, Tools for effective sexual health conversations from the National Coalition for Sexual Health
• Find Free or Low-Cost STI Testing Near You, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

In this episode we chat with Dr. Suelyn Hall, author of How To Get A-Head, Secrets to Male Sexual Pleasure From a Female Urologist. The book goes into more than just technique, as Dr. Hall looks at what drives male pleasure on every level, even considering how cultural norms, mental health, and our own history converge in the wonderful, sometimes chaotic mind-body dynamic. (Don't worry, we talk at length about female pleasure in this episode, too!) Dr. SueLyn Hall is a trailblazing urologist, author, and advocate for holistic wellness. Born and raised in Jamaica, Dr. Hall earned her medical degree from New York Medical College and is Board-certified by the American Board of Urology. As one of the first 50 female urologists in the United States, Dr. Hall has spent decades excelling in a male-dominated field. Show Notes Follow Dr. Hall and order her book at https://www.instagram.com/howtogetaheadbook/ Learn more about STI prevention and find free/low-cost STI testing at https://www.cdc.gov/sti/testing/index.html.

Welcome to our master class with Keosha T. Bond, EdD, MPH, CHES. Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Health and Social Medicine at CUNY School of Medicine, Dr. Bond has centered her work on the complex intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and racial equity among marginalized populations. In this episode, she discusses her award-winning research that highlights the impact of colorism on the healthcare Black women receive, the Black maternal mortality crisis, and her work training the next generation of health care providers to understand implicit bias, racism, structural inequality, and how these factors impact health outcomes.

Learn more about Dr. Bondhttps://www.drkeoshabond.com/

Dr. Bond's Book Recommendations

Pleasure Activism, The Politics of Feeling Goodadrienne maree brownhttps://www.akpress.org/pleasure-activism.html

Good Sex: Stories, Science, and Strategies for Sexual LiberationCandice Nicole Hargons, PhDhttps://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Good-Sex/Candice-Nicole-Hargons-PhD/9781955905794

The American Cancer Society recently released new guidelines for cervical cancer screening that include HPV testing with self collected samples. In this episode, we talk to Rebecca Perkins, MD, MSc, from Tufts University Medical School about what's different in these new guidelines and how HPV testing with self collection can help get more women screened.

Resources

• American Cancer Society Updated Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines
• Information for patients on HPV screening with self collected sample (from ASHA)
• HPV Self collection infographic (from ASHA)

The FDA recently approved two new medications to treat gonorrhea and they are sorely needed. Give a listen as infectious diseases expert Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo explains why the new drugs are so important in providing a more convenient, oral treatment option against an infection that is increasingly resistant to other therapies. About our guest: In 2023, Dr. Marrazzo was appointed as the sixth Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. She previously was Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine and as elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2024. Her research portfolio is broad and includes the relationships between the vaginal microbiome and female reproductive tract infections, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, hormonal contraception, and risk of STI/HIV acquisition.

With HPV vaccination and regular screening, we have the tools we need to eliminate cervical cancer. Now we have a new tool—HPV screening with self collected samples. We invited Dr. Rebecca Perkins from Tufts University Medical School to talk about this new screening tool and its potential to help get more women screened and prevent cervical cancer.

Learn more about HPV screening with self collection at ASHA or at the National Cervical Cancer Coalition (NCCC).

January is Cervical Health Awareness Month. Learn more about cervical health and cancer prevention at the NCCC.

This episode focuses on the state of boys and young men, with a special look at their mental health. Give a listen to our conversation with Dennis Barbour as we discuss the challenges male youth seem to be grappling with as they navigate contemporary society. Mr. Barbour is the President and CEO of the Partnership for Male Youth, the only national organization that has a singular focus on the health and wellbeing of males ages 10 to 25. Show Notes Partnership for Male Youth National Center for Men's Health: Fast Stats

People use apps to find someone to date or hook up, nothing new there, but what about using apps to notify someone when they need to think about STI testing and prevention services? It's happening (permission based, of course), and we're exploring this today with Morgan Finke, the Communications Coordinator with Public Health Madison & Dane County in Wisconsin, and we want to talk to Morgan because HER health department is utilizing dating apps for some partner notifications.

Show Notes:

Public Health Madison & Dane County: Digital Partner Services

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention STI Prevention Page

ASHA's STIs A to Z

We've had a lot of discussions on this podcast around syphilis, especially the alarming rates of the infection in newborns, but today we're talking about syphilis and ocular (or eye) infections, in particular syphilitic uveitis, a disease affecting the uvea, the middle layer of the eye. It's not very common, but it has been increasing in recent years and can severely damage one's vision if not diagnosed and treated. To learn more, we're fortunate to be joined by Dr. Meghan Berkenstock, an associate professor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute where she specializes in the care of patients with uveitis. Show Notes A recent paper published by Dr. Berkenstock and colleagues: Incidence and Prevalence of Syphilitic Uveitis and Associated Ocular Complications in the TriNetX Database. CDC About Syphilis fact sheet https://www.cdc.gov/syphilis/about/index.html