The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals budget for STD prevention has reached its lowest since 2011. 
Total spending decreased from $11 million to $8.6 million in 2013.
The National Coalition of STD Directors reported other states also experienced budget cuts, with 69 percent of STD programs across the country slashing budgets in 2009. 
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, other states that suffered budget cuts reported decreases in staff, clinic hours and morale as well as increases in workload and responsibilities among staff members. 
Student Health Center health promotion coordinator Kathryn Saichuk described the cuts in spending as disappointing. 
“We do have a high rate of STDs in Louisiana, so it is a little disheartening to hear about those kinds of budget cuts,” Saichuk said. 
According to the Louisiana 2012 Annual Report, Louisiana ranked fourth for cases of chlamydia, second for gonorrhea and third for primary and secondary syphilis. From 2008 to 2011, Louisiana ranked first in new cases of primary and secondary syphilis. 
The cuts could affect clinics and hospitals across the state, but Saichuk said they would not affect the Student Health Center.  
“Our monetary funding here at the Student Health Center is student based, so all full-time students automatically pay a Student Health Center fee,” Saichuk said. 
Saichuk said the proper precautions are taken to ensure the Student Health Center does not go beyond its budget. 
“We’ve been very lucky to have some very good executive directors that have made sure that we’ve stayed within our budget and didn’t get into the red,” Saichuk said. 
She said it’s important the Student Health Center stays within budget so it can continue to provide students with resources for STD prevention but additional funding would also help. 
“We don’t want to fall back on the services that we provide students because we want to make sure we are providing students with the services they need, but of course, if we could get more money, we could provide maybe some additional services,” Saichuk said. 
The Student Health Center provides students with several services for STD prevention, including counseling about STDs, STD testing, women’s health classes and condoms for sale at the pharmacy. Representatives also speak to students in classes, residence halls and student organizations about STD prevention and treatment. 
Saichuk said educating students about STDs is an important part of prevention. 
“We can provide a great deal of education to students, but we just have to have that conversation with students,” Saichuk said. 
Several students, including undecided freshman Beau Lemaire, feel these services are beneficial.
“If kids are really wanting to get involved in that type of thing, it’s good that they have an option to do it properly and safely,” Lemaire said. 
Lemaire said despite the services being useful, students can only get out of it what they put in. 
“It is what you make it,” Lemaire said. “If you listen to what they have to tell you, you can take what you can get out of it which is education.” 
Erin Marsh, a history graduate student, said being informed is an important part of prevention. 
“I think people need to be informed and be able to get whatever services they need,” Marsh said. 
Marsh said she learned about several Student Health Center services as an undergraduate at the University but more promotion about what’s available would be helpful. 
“I think it could be promoted more. You can never really promote it too much,” Marsh said. “A lot of students probably don’t realize that it exists because it’s not something that they necessarily think about everyday.” 
Marsh said the more students are exposed to information about prevention, the more knowledgeable they will be about STD’s, which could affect their choices.