Care Connection Newsletter

Together, we can make a difference in the lives of those in or seeking recovery from mental and substance use disorders. With the right treatment, support, and resources, recovery is possible for everyone. Use The Importance of Health and Well-Being in Recovery Toolkit to learn more about what the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is doing to support people in recovery and how to share this information with your audiences.

Messaging Guide: Communicating About Overdose Prevention, developed by Public Health Institute’s (PHI) Berkeley Media Studies Group and PHI’s National Overdose Prevention Network, shares communications and framing strategies to reduce stigma surrounding substance use, respond to misinformation and communicate about overdose prevention with a range of audiences, including rural communities.

Primary care providers can prescribe medications for opioid use disorder. Many primary providers find that prescribing medication to treat OUD is easier than they thought it would be.

The country continues to experience an increase in STIs, which has significantly impacted people with HIV. HRSA HAB released a new program letter that provides information on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) new clinical guidelines on the use of doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (doxy PEP) for the prevention of bacterial STIs.

SAMHSA also issued a Dear Colleague Letter to alert grantees about the updated CDC doxy PEP clinical guideline and to provide guidance on the use of grant funds to incorporate doxy PEP into SAMHSA-supported work. Doxy PEP is a novel use of an STI medication for prevention that has demonstrated effectiveness in reducing the incidence of bacterial STIs (specifically syphilis, chlamydia, or gonorrhea) in certain populations. FREE digital graphics and videos from KFF’s Together Greater Than are available to support your outreach about this new STI prevention tool.

The OASH-funded Clinical Training Center for Sexual + Reproductive Health (CTCSRH) released a new toolkit for Healthcare providers - Syphilis and Congenital Syphilis: A Toolkit for Healthcare Providers. This toolkit is a collection of tools, job aids, and evidence-based resources related to screening, testing, staging, and treating syphilis. It is intended for Title X staff but includes resources that can be useful for any sexual and reproductive health provider. The CTCSRH also has a newly expanded resource page.

CDC published clinical guidelines to assist health care providers in counseling patients regarding doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (or doxy PEP) for bacterial sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention, including syphilis. Doxy PEP has proven to reduce the risk of getting a bacterial STI for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men and transgender women at increased risk for bacterial STIs.
FDA exercised enforcement discretion for the temporary importation and use of Extencilline® and Lentocilin to mitigate the effects of a shortage of the syphilis treatment drug Bicillin L-A®.
HHS issued Considerations for the Implementation of Point of Care Tests for Syphilis - PDF, a resource that outlines four main differences between syphilis point-of-care tests and laboratory-based serologic syphilis tests and highlights the best settings to consider the use of point-of-care tests. It also examines parameters for point-of-care testing program implementation and management, provides answers to common questions, and lists links to related resources.
The Task Force leveraged funding flexibilities for grant programs from multiple different agencies (CDC, HHS Office of Population Affairs, HRSA - PDF, and SAMHSA - PDF) to enhance the use of grant funds—including staff time—for counseling, testing, and treatment services for those affected by syphilis and congenital syphilis.

Additional Resources

Integrating Syphilis Programming into Behavioral Healthcare Settings (youtube.com)
NIH-supported study shows potential strategy to reach people with and without symptoms - Emergency department screening more than doubles detection of syphilis cases (article)
CDC 2024 Doxy PEP Guidelines