STIs are on the rise, it’s time to talk about your sexual health

Sexually transmitted infections (STI) are on the rise in Australia, with health experts saying it is time to lose the stigma and get regular checks.

Infertility, neurological and cardiovascular disease, ectopic pregnancies, stillbirths, certain cancers and an increased risk of HIV are all health effects that can be caused by STIs if left untreated, according to the World Health Organisation.

The Kirby Institute found there were 6036 cases of syphilis reported in 2022, 82 per cent of those were males.

Rates of syphilis more than tripled between 2013 and 2019, then increased again between 2020 and 2022.

The rate of Australian females infected with syphilis increased six-fold from 1.3 people to 8.8 per 100,000 since 2013.

In 2022, there were 93,777 cases of chlamydia reported in Australia, about 70 per cent of those were in people aged between 15 and 29-years old.

There were also 32,877 cases of gonorrhoea, with 71 per cent of those reported in males.

The significant rise in numbers has prompted health experts to urge Australians to get regular STI checks.

RMIT behavioural researcher Dr Margaret Heffernan said a sexually healthy population was everybody’s business.

“Despite calls for sexual education programs, the sporadic implementation of education and the trivialisation of sexual values through the media indicate the topic is taboo, resulting in embarrassment, shame and judgment for individuals who acquire an STI,” she said.

“In essence, Australians are a society of prudes in our attitudes toward sexual activity.

“While perceiving ourselves to be sexually liberated, individuals are compromised and stigmatised by sexually transmitted infections.”

Dr Heffernan said infections were most notable in vulnerable populations in remote and regional areas of Australia, as well as Tasmania.

A lack of health services and clinics combined with widespread lack of information, knowledge and education in regional and remote areas were all contributing factors to the rates of infection.

“Any discussion about STIs is very much stigmatised and people still feel shame,” she said.

“There are also cultural factors of male and female issues, for example, men will not seek sexual health treatment from a female GP and vice versa.”

Dr Heffernan said attitudes towards dating, porn and decreased use of prevention methods such as condoms were other contributing factors that had led to increased infections because no one was emphasising why safe sex or regular STI checks were important.

“Low levels of sexual health literacy in the population … leads to ignorance, acquisition, risk factors and perceived loss of reputation,” she said.

“Normalising and desensitising sexual health and treatment is the first step.

“It then requires a determination by peak bodies to prioritise funding of resources to educate, inform, and make STI testing accessible and a routine part of every health check.”

Dr Heffernan said while we were very good at looking after our physical, mental and financial health, we were not good at looking after our sexual health.

She said a public health campaign around HPV saw Australia have the best uptake of the vaccine in the world.

“We now don’t see genital warts in boys or stage three pre-cancer and Australia will probably be the first country to knockout cervical cancer within our lifetime,” she said.

“That campaigning was targeted, it was in different languages and we got cultural leaders to design the messaging, everybody got behind it now we need to do the same thing with our sexual health.”