The World Health Organisation (WHO) has expressed concerns over the alarming rise of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the hitches in the fight against the deadly infections.
The United Nations (UN) organisation reported that the annual number of fresh syphilis infections jumped from 7.1 million in 2020 to 8 million and counting in 2022.
The report showed that the American continent and Africa had the highest number of cases and 230,000 people died from the disease in 2022.
“The rising incidence of syphilis raises major concerns,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The WHO reports that over one million people are infected with STDs such as syphilis, gonorrhoea, chlamydia or trichomoniasis every day. Thankfully, these four STDs are curable.
The health organisation also revealed that the number of fresh HIV infections has dropped from 1.5 million in 2020 to 1.3 million in 2022.
In addition to the progress report, about three-quarters of people living with HIV are being treated with antiretroviral drugs. Many countries have developed ways to prevent the propagation of syphilis and HIV from mothers to their children.