On July 3, 2026, the World Health Organization launched its first global database on the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections — an open-access "STI Prevalence Atlas" that consolidates standardized, quality-assured data from low- and middle-income countries dating back to 2010. It is the first global platform to bring published and unpublished STI prevalence evidence into one place, addressing a long-standing gap in reliable, country- and population-specific data.

Why It Matters

For the sexual-health industry, reliable prevalence data is the foundation on which markets are built. At-home STI testing companies, telehealth platforms, condom and prophylactic makers, and diagnostics developers all rely on burden estimates to size opportunities, target geographies, and justify investment — and until now, the LMIC picture was fragmented and unreliable. A standardized, openly accessible atlas gives product designers, public-health programs, and funders a shared baseline, and its planned expansion signals a data infrastructure that could underpin new prevention and diagnostic ventures. It also reinforces a broader theme in sexual wellness: destigmatized, data-driven sexual health is increasingly treated with the same epidemiological rigor as any other public-health domain.

The database currently tracks five of the most common STIs: chlamydia, gonorrhoea, herpes simplex virus type 2 (the main cause of genital herpes), syphilis, and trichomoniasis. As of June 2026 it contains data from 766 studies and 2,453 prevalence data points drawn from more than 130 countries, spanning household surveys and studies of pregnant women, adolescents, sex workers, key populations, and STI clinic attendees. To qualify, studies must have clearly defined population groups, sufficient methodological detail, most samples collected in 2010 or later, and a sample size of at least 100. WHO designed it as a dynamic resource that will expand to cover additional STIs over time.

"This database represents a first major step forward in our ability to understand the burden of sexually transmitted infections across diverse populations and settings," said Dr. Tereza Kasaeva, director of WHO's Department for HIV, TB, Hepatitis and STIs, adding that open access equips countries "with the evidence needed to design targeted interventions, strengthen surveillance systems and accelerate progress." The context is a stubborn global burden: WHO's 2020 figures estimated 374 million new infections annually among people aged 15–49 from four curable STIs — more than a million a day — plus over 520 million people living with genital herpes.

The stakes reach well beyond the infections themselves. As CIDRAP noted in its coverage, herpes, gonorrhoea, and syphilis can raise the risk of acquiring HIV, while untreated gonorrhoea and chlamydia are major causes of pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility in women, and STIs can pass from mother to newborn. These infections are frequently asymptomatic and go undiagnosed in lower-resource settings where testing is scarce or unaffordable — precisely the blind spot the Atlas aims to illuminate.

Sources

Update — 2026-07-13

{Initial entry — story first created.}