Policy & Regulations
Releasing new guidelines for treatment for the three diseases, the UN health agency said that the infections were becoming increasingly resistant due to“ misuse and overuse” of antibiotics.
Doctors over-prescribing antibiotics and patients not taking the correct doses have also been associated with the resistance.
Chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis are all caused by bacteria and are generally curable with antibiotics.
“ However, these STIs often go undiagnosed and are becoming more difficult to treat, with some antibiotics now failing as a result of misuse and overuse,” said the WHO.
Globally, WHO estimates that more than one million people contract a sexually transmitted disease( STD) or infection( STI) every day.
Moreover, it is estimated that, each year, 131 million people are infected with chlamydia, 78 million with gonorrhoea, and 5.6 million with syphilis.
“ Chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis are major public health problems worldwide, affecting millions of peoples’ quality of life, causing serious illness and sometimes death,” Ian Askew, WHO’ s head of reproductive health and research division, said in a statement.
Dr Askew added that the new guidelines reinforce the need to treat the STIs with the right antibiotic, at the right dose, and the right time to reduce their spread and improve sexual and reproductive health.
“ To do that, national health services need to monitor the patterns of antibiotic resistance in these infections within their countries,” he said.
In its revised guidelines for treating gonorrhea for example, doctors are advised to stop prescribing quinolones— a class of antibiotics previously effective in the treatment of gonorrhea— and use a different class of antibiotics known as cephalosporins.
Countries also need to update their national gonorrhoea treatment guidelines in response to the growing threat.
For treatment of syphilis, medics are advised to administer a single dose of benzathine penicillin( a form of injectable antibiotic).
But there has been stock outs of the drug in some countries due to short supply over the years.
“ WHO is calling on countries to start using the updated guidelines immediately, as recommended in the“ Global Health Sector Strategy for Sexually Transmitted Infections( 2016-2021)” endorsed by governments at the World Health Assembly in May 2016,” added the press statement.
“ The new WHO guidelines reinforce the need to treat these STIs with the right antibiotic, at the right dose, and the right time to reduce their spread and improve sexual and reproductive health. To do that, national health services need to monitor the patterns of antibiotic resistance in these infections within their countries,” added Dr Askew.
This is the first such WHO update since 2003, due in part to low past budgets and priority levels, and to growing scientific data.
78 Million INFECTIONS YEARLY
5.6 Million INFECTIONS YEARLY
131 Million INFECTIONS YEARLY syphilis gonorrhoea
chlamydia
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