CITY GOES DOOR-TO-DOOR TO LOWER SYPHILIS RATE

High Point residents don't have far to go to get information to fight
syphilis. It's on the street.

Since December, the Guilford County Department of Public Health has
assigned a health worker to High Point to tackle one of the department's
toughest problems. Last year, public health officials launched a major
campaign to reduce the county's high syphilis rate. Results soon showed
that High Point's syphilis rate was higher than Greensboro's rate, said
Caroline T. Moseley, community health education manger for the health
department. "That's why we have someone in High Point on the street
knocking on doors and talking to people about preventing syphilis," Moseley
said. "And we have tests available immediately so you don't have to go to a
clinic."

All health department tests are free, and treatments are kept confidential.

In most of the United States, syphilis rates are so low that no national
rate has been reported since 1999.

Although the county's ranking in the United States for reported cases of
primary and secondary syphilis has fallen from seventh in 1997 to 19th in
1999, infection rates are epidemic.

"We don't know why High Point's rate is higher," Moseley said. "That's why
we are going to the street to get people to talk about it."

The number of county syphilis cases rose slightly in 2001 to 118, up from
113 in 2000. High Point had more of those cases than Greensboro. Guilford's
rate was three times the national average with 53 cases reported in 1999.

Statewide, health officials reported 943 new infections last year compared
with 1,101 in 2000.

"We knew it would be difficult to eradicate syphilis," Moseley said. "This
is the nation's fourth try to eradicate syphilis and we are close. If we
don't do it now, it may never happen."

Guilford County is one of 28 United States counties that collectively
account for more than half of the nation's reported cases of syphilis.

"So if we don't stop syphilis in Guilford County, we can't eradicate it in
the United States," Moseley said.

The national goal is to stop the sexually transmitted disease by 2005.
Health officials formed a People Stopping Syphilis Today Task Force to
combat the disease.

Last year, health officials pumped $182,000, including $50,000 in federal
funds, into the campaign, some for Triad television and billboard
advertising. The federal syphilis elimination project is providing more
than $15 million to problem areas nationwide.

"Most of our adverting money is gone," Moseley said. "We still have a
funded syphilis case worker. We want to do more, but the budget does not
allow it."

The health department also has provided a full-time syphilis screener for
the county jail.

The United States is the largest industrial country that has not eradicated
syphilis, Moseley said.

Guilford County's high rate is linked to the use of crack cocaine, which is
higher than the national average, Moseley said. The sex-for-drugs trade can
contribute to increased infection rates, according to health officials.

"There is a lot of unprotected sex in Guilford County," Moseley said.
"People are more aware about it than they used to be, but changing sexual
behavior is hard. It is hard for people to admit they don't practice safe sex."

A 3-year-old study by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's
School of Public Health and Medicine showed 10-year syphilis rates in
counties bordering interstate highways greatly exceeded rates in other
counties. The rise of syphilis rates followed the increase in drug activity
along Interstate 95, according to the study.

"But people who don't do drugs or prostitution are still at risk if they
have unprotected sex," Moseley said.

The Health Department can also provide condoms that protect against
syphilis and the HIV virus, which can cause AIDS.

People with syphilis are five times more likely to acquire HIV through
unprotected sex than those who practice safe sex. "But many people see HIV
as an African problem because it gets most of the attention," Moseley said.
"We still have our AIDS cases. The risk is great. That's why we want to
talk to people where they live so they won't be afraid or embarrassed."