Health beat: Their messages change, but posters get enlisted in fight vs. STDs

They don't make STD campaigns like they used to.

Google "World War II" and "VD posters" to see what I mean.

In an era when venereal diseases often led to more disabilities — when penicillin was uncommon and mercury was used to treat syphilis — it was OK to educate the troops with "facts," such as a poster indicating that "98 percent of all procurable women have venereal disease."

Nor did the authorities worry much about gender equity: Posters warned the lads about "Booby Traps" and "Good-Time Girls," who apparently were in every dance hall, waiting to undermine the Allied war effort by passing along gonorrhea.

Liberties aside, the posters represented a concern about the spread of VDs — known these days as STDs — and the importance of public messaging to prevent them.

And that concern hasn't changed today, even if the tone of the message has. Troubled by years of record cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea in Minnesota, HealthPartners decided last year to come up with social media posters to encourage young sexually active women to seek regular STD screening.

On Facebook, the Bloomington-based provider of health care and insurance promoted the real-life story of Megan, a Twin Cities woman whose dreams of having children were shattered by a chlamydia infection that she didn't know she had until it was too late.

"Telling my story brings back that pain," she said, "but I hope others can learn from it."

Combined with letters urging screening for young adults, the campaign increased HealthPartners chlamydia testing among its female members ages 18 to 24 by nearly 2 percent.

While that's small, it's significant considering that STD testing at HealthPartners had declined over the prior five years. Testing has declined slightly statewide as well.

"The screening rates are dropping, yet the prevalence of disease is rising in Minnesota," said HealthPartners' Dr. Andrew Zinkel. "It's only going to get worse. We're trying to stem that flow."

Still, they have no plans to revive World War II-era propaganda terms such as "Juke Joint Snipers."