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Sub-Saharan Africa Hit Heavily by STDs
A consultant with the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that proliferation of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are hitting heavily the residents in sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr John Masenga, quoted Saturday by local newspapers, said that there are an estimated 3.5 million patients in sub-Saharan Africa suffering from syphilis, 16 million gonorrhea and 30 million trichomoniasis.
Masenga, who is also a coordinator of STDs at Tanzania's northern town of Moshi, said about 36 percent of cases of curable STDs affected people in the 15 and 44 age groups.
"Global estimation of STDs in sub-Saharan Africa does not include HIV pandemic which constitutes about 70 percent of all HIV cases worldwide," he added.
Masenga cautioned that though women are proved to contract more STDs than men, between 20 percent and 60 percent of the women who contract STDs might not be showing symptoms of the diseases.
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