Dating apps and STDs: a million new sexually transmitted infections a day, WHO warns
- Condom use may be declining because people have lost their fear of getting HIV, while dating apps make sex more accessible, global health expert says
- ‘Hidden epidemic’ has left one in 25 people with chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis or trichomoniasis, WHO says in report director says should be a ‘wake-up call’
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has expressed alarm at the lack of progress on curbing sexually transmitted diseases, while one of its experts warned of complacency as dating apps are spurring sexual activity.
The UN health agency says in a fresh report that every day, globally, there were more than one million new cases of treatable sexually transmitted disease (STD) or infection (STI).
WHO found that there were more than 376 million new cases of chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis and syphilis registered around the world in 2016 – the latest year for which data is available. That is basically the same number as WHO reported in its previous study, based on data from 2012.
A WHO expert on sexually transmitted infections, Teodora Wi, separately told journalists there were concerns that condom use may be declining as people have lost their fear of contracting HIV in step with the emergence of available and effective antiviral treatments.
People are “more complacent about protection”, she says, adding that this was dangerous at a time when “sex is becoming more accessible [through things like] dating apps”. Peter Salama, WHO’s executive director of Universal Health Coverage, said: “We’re seeing a concerning lack of progress in stopping the spread of sexually transmitted infections worldwide.”