WHO: Sexually Transmitted Diseases on the rise
A new report by the World Health Organization states that Sexually Transmitted Diseases are on the rise in different parts of the world.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases continue to destroy millions of lives around the world.
In a new report by the World Health Organization, dated 21 May 2024, despite several attempts by health officials to decrease the number of people affected by STIs, there continues to be an increase in many regions.
The report states that 'HIV, viral hepatitis epidemics, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continue to pose significant public health challenges, causing 2.5-million deaths each year'.
It adds that 'new syphilis cases among adults aged 15-49 years increased by over one-million in 2022 reaching eight-million'.
African regions and America experienced the highest increases.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the increase causes major concerns, especially because there are preventative measures that can be taken by individuals who engage in sexual activities.
“The rising incidence of syphilis raises major concerns. Fortunately, there has been important progress on a number of other fronts including in accelerating access to critical health commodities including diagnostics and treatment.
"We have the tools required to end these epidemics as public health threats by 2030, but we now need to ensure that, in the context of an increasingly complex world, countries do all they can to achieve the ambitious targets they set themselves”.
Four curable STIs – syphilis (Treponema pallidum), gonorrhea (Neisseria gonorrhoeae), chlamydia (Chlamydia trachomatis), and trichomoniasis (Trichomonas vaginalis) – account for over one-million infections daily.
More statistics
- In 2022, there were 630,000 HIV related deaths, 13% of these occurring in children under the age of 15 years.
- Five key population groups — men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, sex workers, transgender individuals, and individuals in prisons and other closed settings — still experience significantly higher HIV prevalence rates than the general population.
- New HIV infections only reduced from 1.5-million in 2020 to 1.3-million in 2022.
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