Malta registered a record number of syphilis cases last year, consultant in genito-urinary (GU) medicine Philip Carabot said on Monday. Many used to say that Dr Carabot blew things out of proportion and that he was harping on for no reason when calling for the introduction of a sexual health policy (which after 10 years was eventually published), but statistics show that it was simply ignorance.
Last year, the number of reported cases of syphilis increased from 24 to 46 – quite alarming. When one factors in that there are probably more cases in the community, then we can start to grasp the magnitude of the problem.
A laissez-faire attitude also seems prevalent, and the consultant in question pointed out that people seemed to give more importance to sexual health when the first recognised cases of AIDS occurred in the early 1980s than they do nowadays.
“The Maltese still haven’t got the tendency to inform sexual partners of any STIs they may have been diagnosed with, and there is no legal means of forcing people to do so. We have a very high rate of people who have casual sex and an abysmal rate of people who don’t use condoms.”
Dr Carabot also spoke of the danger of taking antibiotics without a prescription as this could result in an infection simply being masked without having been treated properly.
Speaking during the launch of a new GU clinic at Mater Dei, Health Minister Joe Cassar said that one of the government’s aims is strengthening the sexual health policy and to eliminate the taboo associated with sexual health. “We would like the GU clinic to be seen as a normal clinic in a hospital, and the aim is to strengthen the educational aspect of the service provided here. This isn’t simply a clinic where STIs are treated, but also a place where people can request advice on sexual health as this forms a big part of the aspect of prevention,” he said.
And therein lies the problem. Maltese people – like it or not – are promiscuous, especially the younger generations. As Dr Carabot pointed out, the use of condoms is abysmally low. Therefore, when you really boil it down to the bare essence, Maltese people have sex with random people and don’t bother using protection or telling anyone of their history – it’s a recipe for disaster.
STIs can lead to serious complications. They are spread primarily through person-to-person sexual contact. There are more than 30 different sexually transmissible bacteria, viruses and parasites. Several, in particular HIV and syphilis, can also be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy and childbirth, and through blood products and tissue transfer.
Some STIs exist without symptoms. For example, up to 70% of women and a significant proportion of men with gonococcal and/or chlamydial infections experience no symptoms at all.
Untreated STIs can have critical implications for reproductive, maternal and newborn health. STIs are the main preventable cause of infertility, particularly in women. For example, 10 to 40% of women with untreated chlamydial infection develop symptomatic pelvic inflammatory disease. Post-infection tubal damage is responsible for 30 to 40% of female infertility cases.