SEXUALLY-TRANSMITTED DISEASES IN THE TROPICS .30.

Several sexually transmitted diseases are endemic in the tropics. The morbidity and mortality from the human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV-1 and HIV-2) alone now rival that caused by Plasmodium falciparum malar ia in several African and Asian nations. The genital ulcers of chancro id and syphilis facilitate the sexual transmission of H/V Within the l ast two decades, the bacteria causing chancroid and gonorrhoea through out the world have acquired plasmids that mediate bacterial resistance to penicillins and other antibiotics. This has significantly increase d the costs of treatment. There is little prospect that the prevalence of gonorrhoea, chancroid, syphilis and HIV will decrease in the tropi cs in the near future without a global change in sexual behaviours and practices.