Sexual health problems escalate on both sides of the border

Despite years of public health awareness campaigns, there are still areas of both the U.S. and Canada that are experiencing an increase in people diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV or chlamydia.

For example, California's San Mateo County Health System is reporting that after a levelling-off in the last two years, the number of HIV diagnoses in the area was again on the rise in 2010, according to the San Francisco Examiner.

Moreover, San Mateo County STD/HIV Program Director Matt Geltmaker told the news source that the county's main STD clinic is open only twice a week for four hours, as opposed to facilities that are open every week day elsewhere on the peninsula.

Across the border in the Canadian capital, STD rates are also rising dramatically. In 2010, one clinic saw some 1,500 people a month, compared to 1,300 four years earlier, Ottawa Citizen reports.

Faced with the prospect of having to turn people away, the clinic recently opened two new examination rooms in the hopes of getting more diagnosed and treated promptly before they spread their infection.

However, health authorities in both countries stress that in addition to frequent STD testing, practicing safe sex is the best way to avoid contracting an STD.