Based on new CDC data presented at the National STD Prevention Conference in Washington, D.C. earlier this week, rates of three sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)--gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis broke a new record in 2017, attaining their highest rates ever.

The U.S. is now poised to have close to 1.7 million cases of chlamydia--up from 1.59 million in 2016. This is along with nearly 555,000 cases of gonorrhea, and over 30,000 cases of primary and secondary syphilis in 2017.

Taken together, this is more than 200,000 more cases of these 3 reportable STDs than in 2016. This also represents the 4th year in a row that the U.S. has had a significant increase in rates of STDs .

Deeper analysis of the data reveals that from 2013-2017, the number of gonorrhea cases increased by 67%. 17,736 of syphilis cases were in men who have sex with men (MSM).

The U.S. has and continues to hold the title of having the highest rates of STDs in the modern world . In fact, STDs are responsible for nearly 16 billion in preventable healthcare costs, based on recent data.

You might even call it an STD public health crisis, based on this new data, and in part is related to reductions in federal spending to address this important issue.

The crisis itself is due to a multitude of factors, including a lack of education and awareness of STDs and issues related to sexual health. But it is also a reflection of reduced screening by health care professionals combined with patients not inquiring about screening or treatment, according to experts during a teleconference with the CDC earlier this week. Read more via Forbes