Millions affected; billions spent.

• Position: STDs - Sexually transmitted diseases

More than 9,000,000 individuals ages 15-24 contract sexually transmitted diseases each year, resulting in over $6,000,000,000 in direct medical costs, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta.

"These numbers on the human and financial costs of STDs in youth should be a wake-up call for the nation," states Joan Cates, principal investigator of a project in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication assessing the magnitude and impact of STDs on youth. "We're not using the tools already available to fight these infections, and we're letting down our youth because of it."

For the first time, researchers estimated the annual number of new infections in youth from the eight major STDs: chlamydia, genital herpes, gonorrhea, hepatitis B, HIV-AIDS, human papillomavirus (HPV), syphilis, and trichomoniasis.

"At the most basic level, we are not communicating well enough to make a difference," Cates maintains. "We need a comprehensive national dialogue on the issue. Our youth panel told us loud and clear that no one solution will work for everyone. They recommend that we--parents, youth-service providers...