FHI 360's global research and programmatic efforts to reduce the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) span three decades. Sexually transmitted infections pose serious and continuing risks to the health and well-being of hundreds of millions of men and women. Consequences of STI infection include both female and male infertility, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirths, chronic disease and death in babies, and cervical cancer. Because the presence of another STI can increase the likelihood of HIV acquisition, controlling STIs is an important strategy for preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Our work includes strengthening the public health response to STIs; improving the quality of STI preventative and curative services; developing and implementing interventions for groups with the highest rates of STI exposure; improving the reliability of surveillance and evaluation data to guide control efforts and measure progress; supporting the use of more focused disease-control measures to reduce the prevalence of specific STIs; and generating and disseminating evidence-based information to guide global STI prevention efforts. We also test STI interventions in a variety of populations.
