Sexually transmitted infections: progress and challenges since the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)

Background: Despite being recognized as an important challenge at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), sexually transmitted ınfections (STIs) other than HIV are one of the most neglected dimensions of sexual and reproductive health. STIs, often undiagnosed and untreated, have especially harmful consequences for women and their neonates.

Progress since icpd: During the last two decades, substantial knowledge and experience have accumulated in behavior change programming during the global response to the HIV epidemic which can also be used for prevention of STIs. There has been progress in development and implementation of vaccines against certain STIs such as hepatitis B and the human papilloma virus. Development of a rapid, point-of-care test for syphilis has opened the door to control this infection.

Challenges: The estimated annual incidence of non-HIV STIs has increased by nearly 50% during the period 1995-2008. The growth in STIs has been aggrevated by a combination of factors: lack of accurate, inexpensive diagnostic tests, particularly for chlamydia and gonorrhea; lack of investment to strengthen health systems that can deliver services for diagnosis and management of STIs; absence of surveillance and reporting systems in the majority of countries; political, socioeconomic and cultural barriers that limit recognition of STIs as an important public health problem; and failure to implement policies that are known to work.

Recommendations: Governments, donors and the international community should give higher priority to preventing STIs and HIV; fully implementing behavior change interventions that are known to work; ensuring access of young people to information and services; investing in development of inexpensive technologies for STI diagnosis,treatment and vaccines; and strengthening STI surveillance, including of microbial resistance.