Lack of trust in your partner can lead to extramarital affairs / Freepik
Sexually transmitted diseases are witnessing an alarming resurgence, and behind many of these diseases are stories of deception, silence, and lack of prevention. After decades of decline, records of recent years show sustained growth that worries specialists.
As a global sample reflected in the country, between 2021 and 2023, gonorrhea rose by 42.6% and syphilis by 24.1%. In 2023 alone, more than 80,000 cases were documented, the majority of them in people between the ages of 20 and 34. Men account for 80% of gonorrhea cases, 88% of syphilis cases, and more than half of chlamydia cases. On the other hand, women tend to develop the disease at younger ages, especially between 20 and 24 years, which indicates that the problem affects all genders and ages, albeit with different nuances.
Medical consultations have become places where secrets are revealed as well as diagnosis. There are those who arrive with suspicious symptoms and end up facing an uncomfortable truth: contracting a sexually transmitted disease that does not fit into a supposedly stable relationship. The appearance of chlamydia, for example, in people with long-term partners, is usually a clear indicator of recent infidelity. What was previously interpreted as “negligence” of the past is today often evidence of the deception of the present.
In parallel, young people are also exposed to a context that encourages infection. One in five has their first sexual relationship before the age of 16, and according to official data, 11% of them do not use contraception at all. The reasons are multiple: from blind trust in their partner to lack of information or simple rejection of condoms, which 13% of young people say they do not use because of difficulties in accessing them or because they believe that it reduces pleasure. Added to this are unequal relationships, consumption of alcohol and other substances, and lack of sexual education that limit perception of risks. The combination is explosive: more early starts, less protection, and a false sense of invulnerability.
The increase in sexually transmitted diseases cannot be explained by individual negligence alone. It also reflects a deeper social crisis: a lack of comprehensive sex education, misinformation, and relationships based on mistrust. The numbers are telling, but behind every case there is a human and emotional element and often betrayal. In a society where pleasure is celebrated, but responsibility is deferred, infidelities and sexually transmitted diseases continue to grow together, like two sides of the same coin.
He worries
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) show a steady increase worldwide and region. According to the World Health Organization, every day more than 1 million people between the ages of 15 and 49 are infected with a curable sexually transmitted disease. In 2020, 374 million new infections were recorded with the four main types: trichomoniasis (156 million), chlamydia (129 million), gonorrhea (82 million) and syphilis (7.1 million). In addition, approximately 520 million people have herpes simplex virus type 2 infection, and more than 311,000 annual deaths from cervical cancer are associated with HPV.
Syphilis remains a public health problem. In 2022, it is estimated that there will be eight million new cases among adults and more than one million pregnant women, resulting in 390,000 birth complications. Neglected infections such as transmissible lymphogranulomatosis have also resurfaced, and new sexually transmitted diseases, such as monkeypox, have emerged.
Key challenges include antimicrobial resistance, especially in gonorrhea, and limitations in diagnosis due to the asymptomatic nature of many STIs. Although rapid tests for syphilis and HIV exist, access to molecular detection technologies remains uneven. The WHO Global Strategy 2022-2030 proposes strengthening prevention, early diagnosis and treatment, in addition to strengthening vaccination against hepatitis B and human papillomavirus.
HPV vaccination is already being implemented in 147 countries, and the effectiveness of new vaccines against herpes simplex, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and trichomoniasis is being investigated. Meanwhile, curable STIs continue to be treated with a single dose of antibiotics, although bacterial resistance threatens their effectiveness. The World Health Organization and national organizations maintain the goal of reducing this infection as a public health problem before 2030.
Medical consultations are now scenarios in which some secrets are revealed…
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