One million new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) occur every single day, the World Health Organization has estimated.
That means more than 376 million new cases annually of four infections – chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis, and syphilis.
The WHO highlights a lack of progress in stopping the spread of STIs, and says its figures are a “wake-up call”.
Experts are particularly concerned about the rise in drug-resistant STIs.
The WHO regularly evaluates the global impact of the four common sexually transmitted infections.
It looks at published research and collects reports from its workers in countries around the world.
Compared with its last analysis in 2012, the WHO reports “no substantive decline” in the rates of new or existing infections.
It suggests around one in 25 people globally has at least one of these four STIs, with some experiencing multiple infections at the same time.
The figures suggest that among people aged 15-49 in 2016 there were:
- 156 million new cases of trichomoniasis
- 127 million new cases of chlamydia
- 87 million new cases of gonorrhoea
- 6.3 million new cases of syphilis
Trichomoniasis is caused by infection by a parasite during sex. Chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhoea are bacterial infections.
