The General Assembly finds and declares that sexually transmissible diseases constitute a serious and sometimes fatal threat to the public and individual health and welfare of the people of the State and visitors to the State. The General Assembly finds that the incidence of sexually transmissible diseases is rising at an alarming rate and that these diseases result in significant social, health and economic costs, including infant and maternal mortality, temporary and lifelong disability and premature death. The General Assembly finds that sexually transmissible diseases, by their nature, involve sensitive issues of privacy, and it is the intent of the General Assembly that all programs designed to deal with these diseases afford patients privacy, confidentiality and dignity. The General Assembly finds that medical knowledge and information about sexually transmissible diseases are rapidly changing. The General Assembly intends to provide a program that is sufficiently flexible to meet emerging needs, deals efficiently and effectively with reducing the incidence of sexually transmissible diseases, and provides patients with a secure knowledge that information they provide will remain private and confidential.