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CNN WORLD REPORT

Number of STDs Is on the Rise in the Netherlands

Aired August 19, 2001 - 14:31 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN ANCHOR: Health experts say sexually transmitted diseases are still much too prevalent. Of the new cases reported globally each year, over 100 million occur among young people over the age of 25. In the Netherlands, the number of STDs has grown considerably since the early '90s. As of Jeroen Baan of the RNTV reports, campaigns promoting safe sex may have lost their impact, particularly among the country's teenagers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEROEN BAAN, RADIO NETHERLANDS TELEVISION (voice-over): Since the late 1980s there have been dozens of TV commercials that try to persuade the Dutch to protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases. The television campaigns were supported by a huge pile of brochures. For some years, the joint campaign worked, but a recent survey shows that health officials may have to think again.

MARITA VAN DE LAAR, RESEARCHER (through translator): Recent figures show that there is a 15% increase in venereal diseases, especially in gonorrhea and chlamydia. I'm shocked, because for the past six years we haven't seen a real growth in sexually transmitted diseases.

BAAN: The growth of all these new cases does not only occur with the typical high-risk groups such as gay and bisexual men and women or prostitutes. STDs are more prevalent amongst heterosexuals as well. And it's mainly because people are not longer as afraid to get AIDS as they were five to six years ago.

VAN DE LAAR: When the general public became aware of dangers of AIDS, we noticed a steep decline in STD cases. People started protecting themselves out of fear to get infected. But with the recent success of combination therapy in treatment of HIV and AIDS, it seems that people just as quickly have gotten careless again.

BAAN: The health authorities are especially worried about the growing number of teenagers who practice unsafe sex. It appears that teenagers are a high-risk group when it comes to gonorrhea and chlamydia.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that a lot of people got scared after seeing the initial awareness campaigns, but after a while everyone gets used to this. Right now these campaigns seem like a waste of money to me. BAAN: The struggle against sexually transmitted diseases has always been a top priority for the Dutch health authorities. As result, the number of people with AIDS and other STDs were amongst the lowest Europe. They still are, but if health officials want to keep these figures down, they will have to find better ways to get the message across. Jeroen Baan, Radio Netherlands Television for WORLD REPORT.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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