Bugs R Us – Alaska Report

Gonorrhea outbreak puts Alaska in uphill battle with STD | McClatchy.

Gonorrhea cases are  up 69 % from 2008 to 2009 according to data reported to the CDC.   Some attribute it to increased reporting.

Chlamydia often accompanies gonorrhea and frequently the choice is made to  treat both ‘bugs’ if one is diagnosed.

More  information comes from comments appended to the McClatchy artircle linked at the top.

“Redpoll”,  reported  at 13:50 11/26,  from his Alaskan village about the population most affected by the STD outbreak:

“The destruction of Native culture by the government is startling to witness, and part of that destruction is the replacement of family by state programs. Every girl in the high school is placed on long-term contraception. Out-of-wedlock births hover around 80 percent. As a fourth-grader once told me about learning math: “Why should I learn this s***? White people are going to give me a house when I grow up.” (The smartest kid in the class, BTW.) Layer on that alcohol and drug use that is at unbelievable levels. Lording over everything is the attitude by outsiders with college degrees who seem to think that they have to “fix” these people, and almost always make the situation worse.”

“In that destruction and chaos, sexual promiscuity is rampant, and that, of course, leads to epidemics of STDs. Maybe if Native people were left alone to cultivate their own ways of living, knowledge, and culture, this would change.

And that’s the rest of the story.