Sexually transmitted disease among young adults in Singapore

This paper discusses sexually transmitted disease as a health concern for younger adults aged 18 to 30 years in Singapore. It highlights the prevalence and incidence of STDs among this population and the need for health promotional activities to reduce the threat of this health concern. The paper argues for the use of the Ottawa charter and Jakarta declaration frameworks for designing approaches to address this health priority.

Running head: SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE
Sexually transmitted disease
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE
Introduction:
Over the years, the occurrence of chronic and life threating diseases contributed to the
mortality and morbidity rate that in turn emphasized the need of health care sectors. Therefore,
evidence-based promotional activities were required for addressing these health concerns. As
discussed by Kima and Shin (2018), in Singapore, a diverse health concerns affecting the
majority of the individuals in society. Sexual health is one of these major health concerns that
pose threat to the society, especially for younger individuals (Cuffe et al., 2016). Therefore,
robust management and health promotional activities required for reducing the threat of these
health concerns. This paper will argue about the prime cause of sexually transmitted disease
(STD) amongst the younger adults of the population through prevalence and incidences and
health promotional activities as a strategy with the assistance of framework of wellbeing Ottawa
charter and Jakarta declaration.
Health priority:
Health priority is considered as a health concern which affected a huge part of the society
that in turn imposes a threat to the target populace (Hills, Dengel & Lubans, 2015). In the recent
scenario, the chosen health priority for this paper is sexually transmitted disease. Sexual health
is unique aspects of a human being yet the most ignored area in a population of Singapore
Matson et al. (2018). As discussed by Kima and Shin (2018), due to inadequate literacy and
awareness of sexual health, the incidents and prevalence of the sexually transmitted disease are
mostly observed in the younger adults of 18 to 30 years in Singapore. Lim et al. (2016), reported
that STD has become highly prevalent in approximately 30% of the younger adults aged between

2
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE
18 to 30 years in Singapore. Therefore, this health concern has been chosen for the target
population as a health priority.
Target group:
According to Korenromp et al. (2018), STD is most abundant in the younger adults of
Singapore aged in between 18 to 30 years. A study suggested that amongst the population of 18
to 30 years, the maximum informed STD are chlamydia and gonorrhea and it is highlighted
mostly in female compared to male population (Fenkl, Hughes & Jones, 2016). In 2017, in the
case of chlamydia, 1,069,111 younger individuals reported the disease whereas for gonorrhea the
reported case is 622.8 (Thomas et al., 2015). As discussed by Harvey et al. (2018),
approximately 30% of the younger adults in Singapore are involved in unsafe sex practice and
experiencing sexually transmitted disease. Causer et al. (2018), suggested that in the present day
because of unprotected sex, the prevalence of HIV transmission is observed in 5600 individuals.
Hence, younger adults of 18 to 30 years have been selected as the target population regarding the
health priority for analysis.
Argument through literature evidence:
There is a mountain of evidence that highlighted sexually transmitted disease as the most
overbearing as well as a well-being hazard which poorly influenced the population of Singapore.
(DeVoe et al., 2018), argued that although the prevalence of the sexually transmitted disease is
not restricted to the younger adults of the populace, it is exceptionally abundant in the younger
population that intensifying the need of health care management. Considering current statistics,
in Singapore, 900 citizens were experiencing sexually transmitted disease and 50% of them are
younger adults of mentioned age (STI Statistics, 2019). In the recent years, in male, 29.9%

3
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE
increase of the prevalence of sexually transmitted disease was observed whereas, for female, an
increase of 8.8% was observed (Hartarti et al., 2018). On a different note, Mortimer et al.
(2015), argued that the prevalence of the sexually transmitted disease is because of inadequate
knowledge and lack of consciousness associated with sexual health. In Singapore, the major STD
are chlamydia and gonorrhea whereas infection from Herpes simplex virus are less abundant the
population of Singapore. DeVoe et al. ( 2018), argued that although because of the degree of
severity, sex education was given to the population of Singapore, it barely reduced the
prevalence of the disease in targeted population. Therefore, health promotional activities
regarding the health concern for the target is under the focus of this paper.
Frameworks of well-being and fundamentals of promotion:
Health promotional activities are recognized as a probable tool for addressing any health
concerns and decrease of it. Hence, health promotional activities have a groundbreaking power
for decreasing health concern. Moore et al. (2016) suggested that inadequate knowledge and lack
of consciousness among the civilization regarding safe sex and related health concern, especially
in the isolated part is a vital contributor to the high abundance of sexually transmitted disease
among target people. National Health authorities have taken a number of steps to enable sex
education amongst younger adults but the results were inadequate to reduce the prevalence that
further indicated that education is the not only required for managing the disease (Kima & Shin
2018). This is because of the inaccurate infrastructure and systematic approach to health
promotion.
Therefore, the framework of wellbeing has been chosen in this paper as a systematic
approach to health promotion. There are a diverse frameworks of wellbeing were highlighted
through accumulated evidence yet most appropriate frameworks for this chosen priority are the

4
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE
Jakarta declaration and Ottawa charter that would be considered for the paper. In case of Ottawa
charter, it is an iconic model of the health priorities which followed worldwide for planning
strategies for the health promotions for the target population (Thompson, Watson, & Tilford,
2018).
Ottawa charter covers particular areas for health priorities such as “building healthy
public policy”, “creating a supportive environment’, “strengthening community action’,
‘developing personal skills and reorienting health services’. Therefore, more frequent screening
of STD in the educational institutes as a public health policy by building advocacy is the
requirement for preventing the prevalence (Fry & Zask, 2016). Considering the second area,
culturally inclusive and competent workshops are required for creating a supportive environment
and strengthening the community as well as raising awareness of sexually transmitted disease
(Flynn, 2015). For the third section, skilled health professional recruitment by training and
workshop is required in order to promote safe sex habits and recognizing early symptoms of the
sexually transmitted disease. For the last section, the abundance of stigmatized behavior
identified as one of the barriers to reduce the prevalence of sexually transmitted disease. Thus,
reorienting the delivery of care through creating a stigma-free environment with an open-minded
approach can reduce the sexually transmitted disease (Chen, et al., 2016).
Considering another framework such as Jakarta declaration, it covers the managerial part
of health promotional activities. According to the Jakarta declaration, seeking funding from
trusty boards and other governing bodies for reduction of sexually transmitted disease in the
target populace is required. Jakarta declaration assists in establishing health promotion as a part
of social accountability which further changed the viewpoint of society regarding sexual health.
Lastly for enhancing the strength of individuals and community at both national and worldwide

5
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE
level is required. Therefore, both of the wellbeings are effective for a strategic solution for the
chosen priority of the target group.
Action strategies and gap:
As mention earlier, a diverse steps were taken by national health authorities for
addressing the gap in the literacy of sexual health in Singapore was successful to the extent for
reducing the prevalence of the sexually transmitted disease. The national health authorities
identified the concern and action strategies were applied for encouraging safe sex (Hartarti et al.,
2018). . In Singapore, for keeping records of the disease, all of the individuals with the sexually
transmitted disease need to report to the Ministry of Health. Although innovative initiatives were
taken, especially for the remote area, the major barriers such as the presence of stigmatized
behavior and associated embarrassment hinders seeking the assistance of health promotional.
However, the identified gap in regarding sexually transmitted disease is the lack of
consciousness in society concerning healthy sexual habits and unprotected sexual approaches.
Hence, for addressing the health issues more competently, more systematic approaches are
required regarding the issue of sexually transmitted disease amongst the targeted population,
preferably with frameworks of wellbeing such as Ottawa charter and Jakarta declaration.
Conclusion:
Thus it can be concluded that sexual health issues are identified as one of the huge issues
amongst the population of Singapore. Even though there are many strategies were planned for
reducing the prevalence of sexually transmitted disease, these initiatives failed to give the
adequate result of the reduction. Therefore, this essay highlighted sexually transmitted disease as
a health concern for the target population such younger adults aged 18 to 30 years, prevalence

6
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE
and indirectly of it for gaining the understanding of the life threats they are experiencing.
Furthermore, it also explored the impact of the disease on the target population chosen for the
essay. This essay also comprised the wellbeing framework such as Ottawa charter and Jakarta
declaration for designing the approaches as a solution for target population for providing disease
free future to the younger adults of Singapore.

7
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE
Reference:
Causer, L. M., Guy, R. J., Tabrizi, S. N., Whiley, D. M., Speers, D. J., Ward, J., ... & Anderson,
D. A. (2018). Molecular test for chlamydia and gonorrhoea used at point of care in
remote primary healthcare settings: a diagnostic test evaluation. Sex Transm Infect,
sextrans-2017.
Chen, T. H., Huang, J. J., Chang, F. C., Chang, Y. T., & Chuang, H. Y. (2016). Effect of
workplace counseling interventions launched by workplace health promotion and tobacco
control centers in Taiwan: An evaluation based on the Ottawa charter. PloS one, 11(3),
e0150710.
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.
DeVoe, S. G., Roberts, L. L., Davis, W. S., & Wallace-Brodeur, R. R. (2018). Identifying
Barriers to Access and Utilization of Preventive Health-Care Services by Young Adults
in Vermont. Journal of Adolescent Health, 62(6), 674-680.
Fenkl, E., Hughes, I., & Jones, S. G. (2016). Human papillomavirus knowledge and intent to
vaccinate among young college age males. Journal of Epidemiological Research, 2(2),
108.
Flynn, M. A. (2015). Empowering people to be healthier: public health nutrition through the
Ottawa Charter. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 74(3), 303-312.

8
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE
Fry, D., & Zask, A. (2016). Applying the Ottawa Charter to inform health promotion programme
design. Health promotion international, 32(5), 901-912.
Hartarti, S., Munsterman, S., Rasa, F. S. T., & Idris, S. (2018). EQ-2 Establishment of Equine
Disease Free Zone (EDFZ) in Jakarta to Facilitate the Equestrian Competitions During
The 18th Asian Games, 2018. Hemera Zoa.
Harvey, S. M., Oakley, L. P., Washburn, I., & Agnew, C. R. (2018). Contraceptive Method
Choice Among Young Adults: Influence of Individual and Relationship Factors. The
Journal of Sex Research, 1-10.
Harvey, S. M., Washburn, I., Oakley, L., Warren, J., & Sanchez, D. (2017). Competing
priorities: Partner-specific relationship characteristics and motives for condom use among
at-risk young adults. The Journal of Sex Research, 54(4-5), 665-676.
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.
Korenromp, E. L., Mahiané, S. G., Nagelkerke, N., Taylor, M. M., Williams, R., Chico, R. M., ...
& Rowley, J. (2018). Syphilis prevalence trends in adult women in 132 countries–
estimations using the Spectrum Sexually Transmitted Infections model. Scientific
reports, 8(1), 11503.

9
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE
Leitner, H., & Sheppard, E. (2018). From Kampungs to Condos? Contested accumulations
through displacement in Jakarta. Environment and Planning A: Economy and
Space, 50(2), 437-456.
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.
Matson, P. A., Towe, V., Ellen, J. M., Chung, S. E., & Sherman, S. G. (2018). The Interaction of
Sexual Validation, Criminal Justice Involvement, and Sexually Transmitted Infection
Risk Among Adolescent and Young Adult Males. Sexually transmitted diseases, 45(3),
189-194.
Moore, M., McKee, M., Borisch, B., & Ricciardi, W. (2016). The global charter for the public’s
health.
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.
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]

10
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE
Sunderland, N., Lewandowski, N., Bendrups, D., & Bartleet, B. L. (2018). Introduction:
Exploring Music for Social Justice and Health Equity. In Music, Health and
Wellbeing (pp. 1-15). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Thomas, T. L., Yarandi, H. N., Dalmida, S. G., Frados, A., & Klienert, K. (2015). Cross-cultural
differences and sexual risk behavior of emerging adults. Journal of Transcultural
Nursing, 26(1), 64-72.
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.