Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are infections that spread primarily through person-to-person sexual contact. STIs are of public health concern not only because of their high prevalence worldwide, but also because of their potential to cause serious and permanent complications in infected people who are not treated in a timely and effective way. These complications and sequelae include infertility, fetal wastage, ectopic pregnancy, anogenital cancer and premature death, as well as neonatal and infant infections. In addition STIs are known to facilitate human immunodeficiency virus infection/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS).
There are more than 30 different sexually transmissible bacteria, viruses and parasites. The most common conditions they cause are gonorrhoea, chlamydial infection, syphilis, trichomoniasis, chancroid, genital herpes, genital warts, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and hepatitis B infection.
Several STIs, particularly HIV and syphilis, can also be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy and childbirth, and through blood products and tissue transfer.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) more than 1 million people acquire a sexually transmitted infection (STI) every day globally. WHO estimates that 500 million new cases of one of four curable STIs (chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and trichomoniasis) occur each year worldwide.
STIs/RTIs (reproductive tract infections) are an important public health problem in India. A community based STI/RTI prevalence study conducted during 2002-03 by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has shown that 6% of the adult population in India has one or more STI/RTI. This amounts to occurrence of about 30-35 million episodes of STI/RTI every year in the country.
A large proportion of new STIs occur amongst adolescents and young adults who may not be aware that they are infected, which can have a negative impact upon their future sexual and reproductive health.
