Content created by Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH)
In 2020, the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP) within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), published the inaugural Sexually Transmitted Infections National Strategic Plan for the United States: 2021–2025 (STI Plan). The STI Plan outlines a vision, goals, objectives, and strategies to effectively prevent and control sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the U.S., with a specific focus on chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and human papillomavirus.
Initially, herpes simplex virus (HSV) was not included, as the STI Plan concentrated on nationally notifiable STIs with federally funded control programs. However, in fiscal year 2022, Congress directed HHS to update the STI Plan to address HSV prevention and treatment. In collaboration with federal experts and community partners, with input from the public, OIDP identified policy, program, research gaps, and priorities to shape a unified national response to HSV, detailed in the Herpes Simplex Virus Addendum to the STI National Strategic Plan: 2021–2025 (HSV Addendum).
The HSV Addendum seamlessly integrates HSV types 1 and 2 into the vision, goals, objectives, and strategies aimed at enhancing STI diagnostics, prevention, care, and treatment as outlined in the STI Plan. It also complements the STI Federal Implementation Plan by identifying and prioritizing federal action steps that federal agencies are encouraged to include in future STI Progress Reports. For more details, read the full HSV Addendum.