Africa-Press – South-Africa. Health Minister Joe Phaahla says the increased visibility of sexually-transmitted infection (STI) interventions in the government’s plan to fight HIV/Aids and tuberculosis (TB) was a “game changer”, but the rise in syphilis was a concern that required the department’s attention.
Phaahla, speaking during the closing ceremony of the South African Aids Conference in Durban on Friday, said the five-year national strategy plan (NSP) on HIV/Aids, STIs and TB placed people and communities at the centre of the country’s effort to end Aids and the associated diseases.
The fifth iteration of the plan runs from 2023 to 2028.
He said the NSP provided a strategic framework to eliminate HIV, TB and STIs as public health threats by 2030.
“We have developed a well costed 2023-2028 NSP for HIV, STIs and TB, which provides the strategic framework for a multi-sectoral approach. This conference has just affirmed our view that the NSP must be measured and implemented for it to be lauded,” Phaahla said.
Last week, the minister wrote in a parliamentary reply that reported cases of STIs had increased from 258 060 to 385 657 between 2022 and 2023.
He was responding to the IFP’s Magdalena Hlengwa, who asked whether the department had any records showing a rise in STIs since 1 January 2022.
Meanwhile, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported that the high number of infections was partially due to the gaps in treatment programmes and inadequate prevention methods.
The institute said STIs contributed to the increase in the risk of HIV infection and transmission, raising serious concerns for South Africa – with 7.7 million people who were living with HIV in 2021.
Dr Mthembeni Tebelele, who focuses on HIV management, said it was concerning that many men still preferred drinking concoctions to treat STIs.
Tebelele’s concerns echoed the inadequate treatment highlighted by the NICD.
He said it was shocking that the numbers were increasing because it meant there were high rates of people having unsafe sex.
He said:
The doctor said he found that the most common STI in men was gonorrhoea, while among women, chlamydia and gonorrhoea, which led to pelvic inflammation, were most commonly seen.
“People have all the tools to prevent STIs but are so relaxed about it. We also have a problem with people who are scared to go to public health facilities as they fear stigmatisation. They end up looking for alternative ways to treat the STI, which are not proper treatments, and they go back to their partners thinking they are treated,” he said.
The Igugu Lethu study released on Wednesday by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) revealed that out of 122 couples who participated, one out of every 10 couples had positive STI results for both partners; about two in every 10 women tested positive for trichomoniasis – which can cause genital itching and painful urination in women – and five in 100 women tested positive for gonorrhoea.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than a million people are diagnosed with one or more STIs like gonorrhoea, chlamydia or syphilis daily.
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