Petrelis Files

May 1, 2004

Supervisor Sophie Maxwell
City Hall
San Francisco, CA

Re: Healthy Vagina Campaign

Dear Supervisor Maxwell:

The Department of Public Health's laudable Healthy Penis campaign to educate men about preventing sexually transmitted diseases has been underway for two years now, but I write today not about that campaign. [1]

My concern is that there is no comparable DPH Healthy Vagina effort targeting women at risk of contracting STDs. Simply put, the vagina just doesn't get the respect it deserves from DPH.

I would like to meet with you to discuss why I believe it's necessary for the city to begin a publicly funded Healthy Vagina social marketing campaign, equal to the Healthy Penis campaign.

The two things I wish to discuss are:

1. Persuading DPH to include female subcategories in the monthly gonorrhea table;

2. Directing DPH to create, design and implement a Healthy Vagina social marketing campaign, equal in funding levels and every other way to the Healthy Penis effort.

Frankly, creating campaigns only for men and the penis, without doing the same for women and the vagina, is scientific sexism at its worst, not just because it ignores the health needs of women, but because it unjustifiably renders women and the vagina invisible as part of the public health agenda, which shouldn't be allowed within our health department.

A prime example of the department engaging in discrimination against women can be found every month in the department's monthly STD report.

Table one of the report is for gonorrhea cases, including three subcategories for oral, penile and rectal cases for men. [2]

Yet, no such comparable data is provided for women.

Whatever the number of female gonorrhea cases is in a given month, the public should have that data in the monthly STD reports.

As you may know, the most recent annual STD summary for the City documents that a "small increase in gonorrhea during 2002 in San Francisco occurred in both males and females." [3]

The 2002 summary shows 366 female gonorrhea cases detected in 2001, with the number rising to 374 cases for 2002. [4]

Female early syphilis cases also jumped during this time, almost doubled, in fact. In 2001 the city had 6 cases, and in 2002, 11 cases were reported. [5]

These climbing cases of female syphilis and gonorrhea clearly show a demand for a Healthy Vagina campaign, as a needed component within an overall healthy female sexuality educational effort.

We must also take into account the fact that the latest annual STD report calls attention to race and gender specifics in the female gonorrhea numbers, which shows one more reason why such an effort is called for.

"The [gonorrhea] rate for African American women was 21 times greater than white women," was a finding in the 2002 report. [6]

For selected background information on two social marketing campaigns currently promoting healthy vagina agendas, one in the United Kingdom, and another in the United States, founded and run by African American women, follow the last two links listed below. [7, 8]

Our health department might consider incorporating elements of these vaginal health crusades into a successful San Francisco-specific Healthy Vagina campaign.

Please contact me at your earlier convenience to set up a time to meet and discuss these issues.

Regards,

Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
Ph: 415-621-6267

Sources:
1. Healthy Penis
2. Monthly S.F. STD report
3. Annual S.F. STD report, Page 4
4. Annual S.F. STD report, Page 21
5. Annual S.F. STD report, Page 21
6. Annual S.F. STD report, Page 2
7. Vulval Health Awareness Campaign
8. African American Women Evolving

[This letter is addressed to Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, but is also being sent to the other Supervisors, with whom meetings are similarly sought.]