According to the report, the number of new syphilis infections will rise to 8 million in 2022.
The number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is increasing around the world and is of “great concern” to health authorities, according to a new report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday.
of report They found that four treatable sexually transmitted infections – chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and trichomoniasis – are responsible for more than 1 million infections every day among adults aged 15 to 49. In particular, cases of syphilis are increasing rapidly.
The number of new syphilis cases among adults aged 15 to 49 increased from 7.1 million in 2020 to 8 million in 2022, according to the report.
The incidence of congenital syphilis is also on the rise. Congenital syphilis occurs when a mother transmits syphilis during pregnancy and the baby is born with the infection. From 2020 to 2022, the incidence rose from 425 to 523 cases per 100,000 live births per year.
Global trends are similar to those seen in the United States.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report According to a paper published earlier in his year, the total number of syphilis cases will increase by more than 17% between 2021 and 2022 to 207,255, the highest number of reported cases since 1950. Reached.
The report also found that cases of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea are on the rise, another “concern”. As of 2023, nine countries have reported increasing levels of resistance (5% to 40%) to ceftriaxone, which is considered the final treatment for gonorrhea.
The data points to other issues such as a lack of testing for rising sexually transmitted infections and a lack of access to health care. moreover, Disruption caused by the new coronavirus pandemic Screening may have been delayed for many people.
“The rising incidence of syphilis is causing great concern,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. statement. “Fortunately, important advances have been made on many other fronts, including accelerating access to critical health products, including diagnostics and treatments.”
“We have the tools we need to end these infectious diseases as a public health threat by 2030, but against the backdrop of an increasingly complex world, we need to ensure that countries do everything in their power to meet the ambitious goals they set for themselves,” the statement continued.
Not all trends are on the rise, according to the report, with the number of new HIV infections worldwide falling from 1.5 million to 1.3 million in 2022. However, WHO noted that certain groups continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV, including men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, sex workers, transgender people and those currently in prisons and other closed settings.
In a press release, WHO noted that progress has been made in scaling up sexually transmitted disease, HIV and hepatitis control services, and that mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis has been eliminated in several countries.
The report calls for accelerating efforts to decriminalize and destigmatize victims of sexually transmitted diseases and other infectious diseases, and to raise awareness of sexually transmitted diseases and other infectious diseases to reduce infection rates. It outlines several recommendations, including an increased focus on primary prevention, diagnosis and treatment.