Nearly 40 000 women with STIs
JOBURG – As South Africa wrapped up the celebration of Women’s Month, the Democratic Allince (DA) revealed there were 37 502 sexually transmitted infections (STIs) recorded in Gauteng hospitals and clinics in the past two years, two-thirds of which were among women.
However, the Provincial Department of Health promised to continue to monitor the incidence and prevalence of various STIs.
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health Jack Bloom said, “This information is revealed by Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature. More effort should be made to educate people about STIs as they are easily curable, and early treatment will lower the risk of HIV infection.”
In his response to questions posed by this paper, Department of Health spokesperson, Vuyo Sabani said the recent reports revealed that genital blisters without ulceration, genital ulcers and genital warts were among the most common STIs.
Sabani said in 2014/15, 18 086 people visited public health facilities with STIs, and there were 19 416 in 2013/14. He said new cases of STIs in 2014/15 were 33.4 percent male and 66.4 percent female.
The report also showed that the group most affected were both genders aged 25 to 29. It said more women were attending public health facilities than men, hence the incidence of female STIs seeming higher than men.
Sabani said, “Every sexually active adult – without protection – is likely to contract one form of STI or another. We hope that an impression is not created to suggest that there was a stage when we ignored these. Also, we hope in the reporting we don’t confuse incidence and prevalence.”
He added that the approach to STI diagnosis and management was to treat the signs or symptoms (syndrome) of a group of diseases rather than treating a specific disease. Sabani said that allowed for the treatment of one or more conditions which often occured at the same time, and is accepted as the management of choice.
“The department has embarked on a massive campaign to mitigate the impact of HIV/Aids, including STIs, using a combination prevention approach. The campaign and all HIV/Aids and STI projects are implemented through a branding platform titled Pasop [be careful]. Young people are encouraged to download the Pasop app for android devices” he said.
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