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WHO / SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS
STORY: WHO / SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS
TRT: 2:44
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 5 JUNE 2019, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, Taylor and Wi at virtual press conference
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Melanie Taylor, study author and sexually transmitted infections expert, WHO:
“Today WHO released updated estimates for four curable sexually transmitted infections. These infections include syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, trichomoniasis. These estimates include 376 million new estimated infections occur annually. This is more than one million sexually transmitted infections occurring daily.”
3. Cutaway, presser
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Melanie Taylor, study author and sexually transmitted infections expert, WHO:
“These estimates can be interpreted as one in 25 persons infected with a sexually transmitted infection. Now these four curable STI infections can be treated with currently available antibiotics, however these numbers are very high and indicate a very high health risk.”
5. Cutaway, presser
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Melanie Taylor, study author and sexually transmitted infections expert, WHO:
“These sexually transmitted infections can have serious health consequences, for example these infections can cause infertility, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and also adverse birth outcomes such as stillbirth, neonatal death and low birth weight.”
7. Close up, Wi in studio
8. Med shot, journalist
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Teodora Wi, Medical officer for sexually transmitted infections, WHO:
“STIs are very common and we can all do something about it. As policy makers, make sex safe and support STI control. Please do not reduce the budget on STI control and sexual health, better still, increase it. As health care providers, do not be the source of stigma, treat STIs like any other infection. Treat STI patients with respect and understanding. For parents and teachers, provide skills to your children, let them know the basics of prevention. And also make sure that they understand all these different issues about sexually transmitted infections.”
10. Cutaway, presser
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Teodora Wi, Medical officer for sexually transmitted infections, WHO:
“For all of us here, if we choose to have sex be rational, be safe, be responsible, use a condom. If you think you have an STI, don't be afraid, go and see your doctor, and don't be the source of further infections.”
12. Various shots, studio
Every day, there are more than one million new cases of curable sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among people aged 15-49 years, according to data released today (6 Jun) by the World Health Organization. This amounts to more than 376 million new cases annually of four infections - chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis, and syphilis.
Published online by the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, the research shows that among men and women aged 15–49 years, there were 127 million new cases of chlamydia in 2016, 87 million of gonorrhoea, 6.3 million of syphilis and 156 million of trichomoniasis.
These STIs have a profound impact on the health of adults and children worldwide. If untreated, they can lead to serious and chronic health effects that include neurological and cardiovascular disease, infertility, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirths, and increased risk of HIV. They are also associated with significant levels of stigma and domestic violence.
Syphilis alone caused an estimated 200 000 stillbirths and newborn deaths in 2016, making it one of the leading causes of baby loss globally.
Since the last published data for 2012, there has been no substantive decline in either the rates of new or existing infections. On average, approximately 1 in 25 people globally have at least one of these STIs, according to the latest figures, with some experiencing multiple infections at the same time.
STIs spread predominantly through unprotected sexual contact, including vaginal, anal and oral sex. Some—including chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis—can also be transmitted during pregnancy and childbirth, or, in the case of syphilis, through contact with infected blood or blood products, and injecting drug use.
STIs are preventable through safe sexual practices, including correct and consistent condom use and sexual health education.
Timely and affordable testing and treatment are crucial for reducing the burden of STIs globally, alongside efforts to encourage people who are sexually active to get screened for STIs. WHO further recommends that pregnant women should be systematically screened for syphilis as well as HIV.
All bacterial STIs can be treated and cured with widely available medications. However, recent shortages in the global supply of benzathine penicillin has made it more difficult to treat syphilis. Rapidly increasing antimicrobial resistance to gonorrhoea treatments is also a growing health threat and may lead eventually to the disease being impossible to treat.
WHO generates estimates to assess the global burden of STIs, and to help countries and health partners respond. This includes research to strengthen prevention, improve quality of care, develop point-of-care diagnostics and new treatments, and generate investment in vaccine development.
More data was available from women than men to generate these global estimates, and STI prevalence data remains sparse for men globally. WHO is seeking to improve national and global surveillance to ensure availability of reliable information on the extent of the STI burden worldwide.
Published in the WHO Bulletin as an ‘online first’, the data provides the baseline for monitoring progress against the Global Health Sector Strategy on STIs, 2016–2021. The strategy, adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2016, proposed rapid scale-up of evidence-based interventions and services to end STIs as a public health concern by 2030.
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