Where is leadership for health problems?

More evidence of Christian County’s poor health includes this: The rate of sexually transmitted disease infections is more than five times greater than the national level, and the teen pregnancy rate is nearly 300 percent higher than the national rate.
Pregnancy among teens who are not ready emotionally or financially to raise healthy children, and STDs in people of all ages, place burdens on a community that are felt for generations. There’s the obvious need for medical care, often provided by the Christian County Health Department and other public agencies that rely on tax funding. But there’s also a broader problem in the ways that poor sexual health can thwart a person’s ability to pursue education and earn an independent living.
New Era staff writer Nick Tabor’s April 28 story about health statistics for Christian County reveals that we have a long way to go in diagnosing the root causes of the problem. But the solution to every big challenge begins at the place leaders decide to act. That means the leaders in Hopkinsville and Christian County have to recognize poor sexual health as a burden that affects everyone.
One place to start is with an acknowledgement that sex is a tough topic. Then maybe we can begin to learn why so many people are practicing unsafe sex.
There are many stakeholders in this community who’ve tackled difficult problems in the past. The League of Women Voters and Challenge House, for example, should not be overlooked as valuable institutions that can help diagnose the unique problems that lead to high rates of STDs and teen pregnancy.
Other institutions that have an obvious role in dealing with this problem include the health department, local schools and Jennie Stuart Medical Center.
And if the Chamber of Commerce wants to confront one of the biggest hurdles to improving Christian County’s quality of life and long-term economic standing, it will provide some leadership in this area. The chamber, through the community vision plan, should make health and all its components a priority.
Maybe it’s time the health department didn’t operate as an island. This is a problem that affects all of us.

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