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Mother-to-child STD transmission cases hike
The risks of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS and syphilis heighten, as there is an uptick in cases in recent years, while the number of pregnant women getting medical attention against these diseases remains dangerously low.
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A pregnant woman works as a busker in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, on April 22, 2020. (JP/Jerry Adiguna)
T
he Health Ministry has warned against the heightened danger of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS and syphilis, as the two sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have seen an uptick in cases in recent years, while the number of pregnant women getting medical attention against these diseases remains dangerously low.
According to ministry data, over the past five years the number of syphilis cases in the country has increased by 70 percent, from 12,000 cases in 2018 to 20,7000 cases in 2022.
A closer look at the number showed that 5,600 of these cases were found among pregnant women, although the actual number could be far bigger since only 25 percent of pregnant women had themselves tested.
Health Ministry spokesman Mohammad Syahril said to make matters worse, only 40 percent of pregnant women who had tested positive had gotten medication to suppress the disease.
Without medication, the probability of mother-to-child transmission of syphilis could reach up to 80 percent, Syahril said, as babies could get infected during pregnancy, labor or breastfeeding.
“[Syphilis among pregnant women] could result in forced abortion, a stillbirth, or even when the baby is born, it would still have congenital syphilis,” Syahril said during a media discussion on Monday.
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