Public Health Priority: STDs

This essay explores the public health priority of sexually transmitted diseases affecting the young adults in Singapore. It defines the health priority, target group, and provides literature evidence. It also discusses the frameworks of well-being and fundamentals of promotion, action strategies, and gaps. The essay concludes by emphasizing the need for a more systematic approach to address the health issue more effectively.

Running head: PUBLIC HEALTH PRIORITY: STDs
Public health priority: STDs
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Introduction:
In the present day, various complex and complicated diseases are representing in the
health care scenario, which is why the impact of health concerns is intensifying with each
passing day. Need for higher and more advanced health promotional activities is imperative to
address the presenting concerns (Hills, Dengel & Lubans, 2015). Among the myriad of health
issues, there are certain massive health concerns which effects the society with much more
intensity and in turn demand a more extensive and robust management initiative. Sexual health
has become one of the greatest and most deliberating health issues all across the world and with
each passing day, the threat to the young generation from the myriad of different sexual health
concerns is ever rising (Liu et al., 2015). This essay will explore the public health priority of
sexually transmitted diseases affecting the young adults is order to understand the incidence and
prevalence and how health promotion can be a strategic solution taking the assistance of Ottawa
charter and Jakarta declaration.
Definition of the health priority:
Health priority can be characterized as the health concern that impacts a large population
of society or community, and leads to a huge detrimental impact to the target population. In this
case, the chosen health priority for this paper is sexually transmitted diseases or STDs. Sexual
health is a very important aspect of human health and well-being and yet it is also one of the
most neglected health areas in different populations (Yonker et al., 2015). Sexual health
awareness and literacy is minimal in the Confucian societies and cultures, and for the
Singaporean communities the impact of the sexual awareness among the adolescents and
teenagers, which is reflected multiple fold in the incidence and prevalence of sexually

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transmitted diseases among the young adults, aged 18-30 years. Hence, this health concern has
been chosen as the target health issue for this paper.
Target group:
Sexually transmitted diseases are the most pertinent and abundantly reported in the
young adult population. Among young adults in Singapore, the most commonly reported STIs
are gonorrhoea and Chlamydia; and the females represent almost twice as the infection rates in
Singapore as compared to males. Hence, the young adults referring to the age range of 18 to 30
has been selected as the target population for the chosen health priority to be analysed and
explored in this paper. According to the Ng et al. (2018) however, the rate of HIV AIDS
transmission is for hire in Singapore being close to 5600 people in Singapore in the present day
living with HIV AIDS. Although it has to be highlighted that HIV AIDS is not always a
sexually transmitted disease and it can be transferred through blood transfusion or using similar
injectable drug tools, it also needs to be acknowledged as the majority of this particular disease is
facilitated sexually.
Argument and literature evidence:
There is a mountain of research evidence that indicates at sexually transmitted diseases
to be one of the most imperative and influential health hazards that affects our society in the
present-day scenario. Sexually transmitted diseases are not bound to only the young adult
population of the society, the prevalence and predominance of the disease is notably higher in the
young adult population (Mortimer et al., 2015). Considering the statistical data, in the last
decade the number of citizens living with sexually transmitted disease has been close to 900 in
Singapore. In the last 10 years the initiative at addressing the sexual health have successfully
reduced the number of people dealing with sexually transmitted diseases by almost 50%, and yet

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there are close to 400 people that develop sexually transmitted diseases in Singapore in a year.
More than 50% of these people attributes to the age group of 18 to 30 indicated at the massive
impact of lack of sexual awareness and literacy which in turn leads to sexually transmitted
diseases in this target population (Kim, & Shin, 2018). Among both teenagers and adults in
Singapore, the most commonly diagnosed STIs are Gonorrhoea and Chlamydia, and females
represent almost twice as many infected individuals in Singapore as males. hence, sexually
transmitted diseases are a major social concern for young adult population in Singapore, and
even though sexual education has been a massive tool in addressing the issue, the results are not
as impressive (STI Statistics, 2019). Hence, this issue has been selected as the health priority
under focus for this paper.
Frameworks of well-being and fundamentals of promotion:
Health promotion is the ultimate tool for addressing any deliberating health concern, and
in this case especially, health promotional activities can be revolutionizing for the condition for
the target group. As discussed by Kim and Shin, (2018) the lack of literacy awareness among
the society regarding safe sex and sexual health, especially in the remote and culturally diverse
population, is the most important facilitator of high sexually transmitted disease rate among the
target population in Singapore. Many steps have been taken by the National Health authorities to
enhance the sexual education among the adolescence and teenagers the results have been less
than sufficient in decreasing the rate and prevalence of the diseases, and it can be inferred that
the lack of a systems approach taken to the health promotion can be the reason (Mortimer et al.,
2015).
The frameworks of well-being for health promotion can easily be accounted as the
systematic approach to health promotion in this case. There are undoubtedly a varied range of

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well-being frameworks, although the most applicable two be considered the Ottawa charter and
the Jakarta declaration. First and foremost, discussing the Ottawa charter first, it is an iconic
model of health promotion, which is followed across the world for planning health promotional
strategies and addressing the health priorities. The Ottawa charter has five particular action areas,
building healthy public policy, creating a supportive environment, strengthening community
action, developing personal skills and reorienting health services: and each of the action area can
be aligned to the chosen health priority (Thompson, Watson & Tilford, 2018). For instance, there
is need for inclusive and preventative awareness building by advocating, enabling and mediating
the exact education needs of the target population. There is need for higher and more frequent
screening for STDs across educational institutes and professional enterprises which is a need for
a public policy. Similarly, inclusive and culturally supportive workshops to enhance awareness is
the requirement in this case, which can be facilitated through creating supportive environments
and strengthening community action. Safe sex habits and the understanding of how to recognize
the early signs of STD is a personal skill which nurses and community care professionals can
help build taking the assistance of one to one training. Lastly, stigma and discrimination still are
a notable challenge that resists the help seeking behaviour of the majority of youth with STD.
Reorienting the health service delivery scenario with an open and stigma-free environment will
improve the quality of life for the target group drastically.
On the other hand, the Jakarta declaration addresses the administrative part of the health
promotion. There is need for more funding and investments so that these goals can be taken to
fruition. Along with that, the Jakarta declaration also establishing the health promotion as a
social responsibility which in turn can change social outlook to the priority area and the target
population. Lastly, to enhance community capacity and individual skills for this issue there is

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need for consolidations and expanding on resources, both national and global, which is the final
strategy recommended by the Jakarta declaration (Who.int, 2019). Hence, both of the wellbeing
frameworks can be equally effective in the priority area chosen.
Action strategies and gaps:
As discussed already there have been many initiatives taken by the national authorities to
address the cap in sexual knowledge on literacy among the city which has been successful to
some extent in reducing the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases or sexual illness among
the society. The national health strategy has recognized the gravity of the issue and there have
been action strategies implemented to proliferate the idea of safe sex in the society.
In Singapore, all serious STDs must be reported to the Ministry of Health for accurate record
keeping (STI Statistics, 2019). Although the lack of inclusive efforts, especially for remote areas
and the fear of public embarrassment is still a resistance in seeking out help. The gap in this case
is the lack of overall awareness across all domains of the society regarding the utmost
importance of sexual health and avoiding unsafe sexual activities. Hence, there is need for a
more systematic approach taken, preferably with the assistance of a well-being framework in
place, as discussed above, to address the health issue more effectively.
Conclusion:
On a concluding note, sexual health continues to be one of the most pertinent challenges
on health priorities across the globe, and Singapore is not an exception to that either. Even
though many action strategies have been taken to address the alarmingly high sexually
transmitted disease incidence rate and prevalence in the society there is not sufficient results as
per the recent data. This essay has successfully explode the health priority areas that sexually
transmitted diseases are and how impactful it is for the target population chosen. Moreover, the

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essay also has included wellbeing frameworks of health promotion Ottawa charter and Jakarta
declaration, taking the assistance of which the health promotion strategies can be revamped and
reoriented to address the exact needs of the target population with respect to the health priority
being reviewed, for a better and preferably STD free future for the youth of Singapore.

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References:
Cuffe, K. M., Newton-Levinson, A., Gift, T. L., McFarlane, M., & Leichliter, J. S. (2016).
Sexually transmitted infection testing among adolescents and young adults in the United
States. Journal of Adolescent Health, 58(5), 512-519.
Hills, A. P., Dengel, D. R., & Lubans, D. R. (2015). Supporting public health priorities:
recommendations for physical education and physical activity promotion in
schools. Progress in cardiovascular diseases, 57(4), 368-374.
Kim, H. J., & Shin, W. (2018). The effects of message source and fear appeal on young adults’
response to Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) messages in Singapore. Asian Journal
of Communication, 28(2), 185-204.
Lim, R. B. T., Wong, M. L., Cook, A. R., Brun, C., Chan, R. K., Sen, P., & Chio, M. (2015).
Determinants of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and coinfection in heterosexual adolescents
attending the national public sexually transmitted infection clinic in Singapore. Sexually
transmitted diseases, 42(8), 450-456.
Liu, G., Hariri, S., Bradley, H., Gottlieb, S. L., Leichliter, J. S., & Markowitz, L. E. (2015).
Trends and patterns of sexual behaviors among adolescents and adults aged 14 to 59
years, United States. Sexually transmitted diseases, 42(1), 20-26.
Mortimer, N. J., Rhee, J., Guy, R., Hayen, A., & Lau, A. Y. (2015). A web-based personally
controlled health management system increases sexually transmitted infection screening
rates in young people: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Medical
Informatics Association, 22(4), 805-814.

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Ng, J. Y. S., Chan, R. K. W., Chio, M. T. W., Lim, R. B. T., Koh, D., & Wong, M. L. (2018). An
Abstinence and Safer Sex Intervention for Adolescents Attending the Public Sexually
Transmitted Infection Clinic in Singapore. Journal of Adolescent Health, 62(6), 737-746.
STI Statistics | DSC Clinic - Department of STI Control Singapore. (2019). [Online].Retrieved
from https://www.dsc-clinic.sg/Patient-Care/Prevention%20and%20Education/STI/
Pages/STI-Statistics.aspx. [Accessed on 28th Jan]
Thompson, S. R., Watson, M. C., & Tilford, S. (2018). The Ottawa Charter 30 years on: still an
important standard for health promotion. International Journal of Health Promotion and
Education, 56(2), 73-84.
Who.int (2019). WHO | Jakarta Declaration on Leading Health Promotion into the 21st
Century. [Online]. Retrieved from
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index1.html. [Accessed on 28th Jan]
Workowski, K. A., & Bolan, G. A. (2015). Sexually transmitted diseases treatment guidelines,
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Yonker, L. M., Zan, S., Scirica, C. V., Jethwani, K., & Kinane, T. B. (2015). “Friending” teens:
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