Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Health Ministry found 20,783 people to have been confirmed to be infected with syphilis in various regions in Indonesia during 2022. "We focus on finding cases by conducting early screening for syphilis at the population level, especially vulnerable and high-risk populations using a standardized rapid test (rapid test) with a fast result. Thus, we could immediately treat cases with positive test results," the ministry's director of prevention and control of infectious disease, Imran Pambudi, noted in Jakarta on Thursday.
Based on data compiled by the ministry in 2022, he explained that men constituted majority of the patient profiles, at 54 percent, and women, at 46 percent. In the age group based on the same data, three percent of children under four years of age have syphilis, followed by 0.24 percent in the age group of 5-14 years, six percent in the age bracket of 15-19 years, 23 percent in the age band of 20-24 years, and five percent among those under the age of 50 years.
The highest number of cases were found in the age group of 25-49 years, reaching 63 percent. Regarding the population group, Pambudi remarked that syphilis was most commonly found in men who had sex with men (MSM) at 28 percent, followed by pregnant women at 27 percent, high-risk couples at nine percent, female sex workers at nine percent, sex workers' costumers at four percent, injection drug users at 0.15 percent, ladyboys at three percent, and others with 20 percent.
He explained that the causes of several cases of syphilis were closely related to the tendency of people, who engage in risky sex without using condoms. In addition, certain groups often change partners during sex to MSM, he remarked.
He noted that the condition of syphilis in Indonesia in 2022 was concerning since 5,590 pregnant women had tested positive for syphilis, while around 2,227 of them had received treatment.
He urged that every side must stop prejudice against syphilis patients, so they can be treated immediately and prevent severe symptoms since the disease has the potential to be transmitted from pregnant women to the child they are carrying and increases the potential for babies to be born with congenital syphilis.
In order to tackle syphilis, the ministry claims to focus on finding cases in vulnerable and high-risk populations. While intensifying efforts to conduct antigen rapid test, the ministry is also taking preventive steps by disseminating sexual education to high-risk groups and also information on sexually transmitted infections (STI) to the general public, as an intervention for changing stigma and discrimination that essentially strengthens health services at health facilities and case detection, Pambudi remarked.
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“Thus, we ensure that access to STI services will be qualified for all populations. STI transmission will also continue to be reduced by targeting key populations, sexual partners, and customers while ensuring quality data to guide responses to the disease," he added.
