Public health opportunities and challenges in the provision of partner notification services: the New England experience

Table 4 Barriers to engaging named partners for notification, by index patient infection type

	CT	MA	ME	NH	RI	VT
	HIV
Funding for staff		✓	✓	✓	✓
Funding for labs						✓
Low utilization by referral sites	✓	✓				✓
Index cases give anonymous partners	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
DIS are unable to contact people	✓	✓		✓	✓
Index cases refuse to talk to the DIS	✓	✓	✓
Index cases do not provide many names	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Not enough staff		✓	✓	✓	✓
Other			✓^a
State does not offer PNS for HIV
	Syphilis
Funding for staff		✓	✓	✓	✓
Funding for labs						✓
Low utilization by referral sites	✓					✓
Index cases give anonymous partners	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
DIS are unable to contact people	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Index cases refuse to talk to the DIS	✓	✓	✓			✓
Index cases do not provide many names	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Not enough staff		✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Other			✓^a
State does not offer PNS for syphilis
	Gonorrhea
Funding for staff			✓	✓	✓	✓
Funding for labs						✓
Low utilization by referral sites						✓
Index cases give anonymous partners			✓	✓	✓	✓
DIS are unable to contact people	✓		✓	✓	✓	✓
Index cases refuse to talk to the DIS	✓		✓			✓
Index cases do not provide many names	✓		✓	✓	✓	✓
Not enough staff			✓	✓	✓	✓
Other			✓^a
State does not offer PNS for gonorrhea		✓
	Chlamydia
Funding for staff			✓			✓
Funding for labs						✓
Low utilization by referral sites						✓
Index cases give anonymous partners			✓			✓
DIS are unable to contact people			✓			✓
Index cases refuse to talk to the DIS			✓			✓
Index cases do not provide many names			✓			✓
Not enough staff			✓			✓
Other			✓^a			✓^b
State does not offer PNS for chlamydia	✓	✓		✓	✓

ISSN: 1472-6963