#LetsTalkSex: What Are Sexually Transmitted Diseases?

Sexually transmitted diseases are mainly spread by sexual contact, including oral, vaginal or anal sex.

Sexually transmitted diseases/infections (STDs/STIs) are more common than we think and very serious yet treatable illnesses, but because talking about sex is taboo, only one-third of all detected cases of STDs are treated.

As per a recent World Health Organisation report, the “total estimated burden of STDs was 376.4 million in 2016. There were 127 million new cases of chlamydia, 87 million cases of gonorrhoea, 6.3 million of syphilis and 156 million of trichomoniasis.”

So statistically, one in every 25 people in the world has at least one STD while some have more than one.

More than just the stigma, it is the ignorance about STDs, even among the educated, that has led to an increase in infections, especially in urban India.