Program Operations Guidelines for STD Prevention: Partner Services

Partner services have evolved from an exclusive focus on finding the sexual contacts of infected persons to a broad view of the clinical and epidemiologic activities needed to help persons infected with STDs. The basic process - interviewing infected persons and others potentially involved in transmission, identifying persons still at risk (whether through direct exposure or indirect involvement), and bringing the latter to diagnosis and treatment - has changed little, but the context for such activity has greatly changed. Partner services play several roles in this context. First, they are a clinical tool for identifying a patient’s needs and requirements and connecting the patient to appropriate care. Second, partner services provide the basis for assessing local epidemiologic conditions, targeting resources, and evaluating program performance. Third, follow-up of partners who are at risk is a powerful tool for understanding the dynamics of disease transmission.

Partner services are offered to individuals who are infected with STD, to their partners, and to other persons who are at increased risk for infection in an effort to prevent transmission of these diseases and to reduce suffering from their complications.