Sexually transmitted infections in Estonia

Estonia, one of the Baltic countries, regained its independence in 1991, af ter the collapse of the USSR. This process led to great changes in every sp here of life-in politics, in the economy and in medicine. The service provi ding care for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) was involved in the pr ocess of these changes, too. However, freedom was followed not only by grea t happiness, but also by social destabilization and transformation of the o ld moral norms, the most evident features of which were the dramatic rise i n crime, a sexual revolution and public prostitution. These 2 great simulta neous transformations in the STI care system and public mores led to the ra pid increase of STIs in Estonia in the first half of the 1990s. Now some st abilization, and even a fall in incidence has occurred.