The role and effectiveness of partner notification in STD control: a review.

means people at high risk of an STD, many of whom are unaware that they have been exposed, are contacted and encouraged to attend for screening and treatment. Partner notification endeavours to reduce the burden of asymptomatic disease in the community and shorten the average period of infectiousness for a given disease, in the expectation that this will reduce disease transmission within the population. It constitutes one aspect of STD control alongside education and screening and treatment of cases. While partner notification has long been accepted as a cornerstone of STD prevention and control, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic has brought with it debate about the ethics, acceptability and effectiveness of partner notification both for the individuals involved and for society in general. In the context of HIV infection the World Health Organisation has defined partner notification as that public health activity in which sexual partners of individuals with HIV infection and those sharing injecting equipment are notified, counselled about their exposure and offered services.' Partner notification is also relevant for injecting drug users who have been in contact with other parenterally transmitted infections including hepatitis B and hepatitis C through sharing needles with an infected person.