Syphilis soars in Russia

Abstract

The number of adults with syphilis in Russia has increased 15-fold since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The rate in children is 20 times higher than it was 4 years ago. 126,500 cases were registered with the health ministry over the past year, while 7900 were in 1990. The number of cases in children increased from 38 in 1991 to 761 this year; most of these cases were acquired via sexual transmission. Lilia Tikhonova, the health ministry's chief specialist on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), blamed the increases on "the complete perversion of our society's morals," the rapid growth of child prostitution, the influx of homeless people and refugees into the cities, and miracle cures that are used in place of seeing a specialist. In communist Russia, patients were required to register passport details and previous sexual contacts, and future sexual contact was forbidden for a period; anyone breaking these rules faced 5 years in jail. Current law only punishes those who knowingly infect their sexual partners. Health officials in the Ukraine, where a similar increase in the number of STDs has been noted, blame black market condoms. Over the past 5 years, cheap foreign condoms have flooded the market.