The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that significant steps have been taken backwards in the fight against sexually transmitted diseases.
“The rising incidence of syphilis is a serious concern,” said WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. According to his organization’s report, more than a million people become infected with syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia or trichomoniasis every day. These four sexually transmitted diseases are all curable.
The annual number of new infections with syphilis has risen from around 7.1 million in 2020 to 8 million in 2022, the UN organization reported on Tuesday in Geneva. The largest increases were recorded in America and Africa. In 2022, 230,000 people died from the bacterial disease.
The number of new HIV infections is declining too slowly
From the WHO’s perspective, new HIV infections are also declining too slowly: in 2022 there were 1.3 million, only 200,000 fewer than in 2020. On the other hand, the WHO reported positive progress: about three-quarters of all people living with HIV is treated with antiretroviral medications. To prevent the transmission of HIV and syphilis from mothers to their children, many countries have already developed health strategies, according to the report.
Source: Krone
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