Switzerland cuts funds for prevention of sexual diseases even as cases rise

Switzerland will cut funds for its Love Life campaign. Keystone-SDA Vonier.ch

In February, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) announcedExternal link that it will reduce funding for several national strategies in order to save CHF11 million ($12.5 million) a year starting in 2026. This includes an initiative to fight sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV and comes at a time when the number of such cases remains high globally. 

Launched in November 2023, the national strategy on STIs aimed to “reverse the trend” of rising syphilis and gonorrhoea cases, and eliminate HIV as well as hepatitis B and C transmissions (usually spread through injectable drug use) by 2030. Love Life, one of the strategy’s main public-awareness and prevention campaigns, will also be affected by the savings measures, which were imposed by parliament and the government as part of a national plan to reduce public spending. 

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STIs occur when a virus, bacteria, or parasite – usually transmitted through sexual contact – begins to multiply. It can sometimes develop into diseases and cause symptoms. 

Love Life, known across the country for its daring ad campaigns to encourage safer sex ever since its creation in 1987, will continue, but with fewer funds and with a focus on adolescents and young adults, a spokesperson from the health office said. He did not specify by how much the Love Life budget would be cut.  

The FOPH will cut a total of 19.5 full time positions. 

STI cases are rising 

The announcement comes as national and international experts, including from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC), report a rise in STI / STD cases. In Switzerland, STIs have steadily risen since the early 2000s. Cases initially dropped due to Covid-19 social distancing measures implemented in the spring of 2020, but were back to pre-pandemic levels by the end of the same year. 

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say this spike could be due toExternal link the disruptions caused by the pandemic on prevention, care activities, reduced screening and the “redirection of sexually transmitted infections (STI) programme resources”. 

Last November, the US body declared a slowdownExternal link in the overall “epidemic” of STIs, with an “encouraging” 1.8% decreaseExternal link from 2022 to 2023, but maintainedExternal link that the number of cases remained “unacceptably high”. 

The recent change of administration in the US and ensuing financial cuts in health and scientific researchExternal link also have health professionals worried. “These actions disrupt the collection, analysis and dissemination of data that are critical for effective STI control in the United States,” said the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association (ASTDA), in a statementExternal link. 

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The US is also behind a programme called the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which has funded 70% of HIV/AIDS response worldwide since its creation in 2003. While HIV cases are stable,External link if the support, which ends on March 25, isn’t renewed for another four years, “6.3 million AIDS-related deaths will occur in the future,” said Christine SteglingExternal link, Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

The use of condoms is decreasing 

In Europe, STI cases have also increased since the early 2000s. According to the ECDC’s latest findings from February, gonorrhoea cases progressed, with a “31% increase compared to 2022 and a striking increase of more than 300% compared to 2014,” the surveillance programme announcedExternal link. The disease can cause burning pain and discharge in all genders. 

While STI cases may be on the rise due to better testing and reporting, the European body warns that growth in gonorrhoea rates could lead to antibacterial resistance and the “emergence of drug-resistant strains (that threaten) the effectiveness of current treatments”. 

STIs can be treated with antibiotics and prevented with the “correct and consistent” use of condoms, according to the WHO.  

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The organisation’s Europe officeExternal link found that between 2014-2022, condom use in over 15-year-olds “significantly declined”, “with rates of unprotected sex worryingly high”. 

While Switzerland reportedly had the highest rate of condom use (77%) among 15-year-old boys across Europe between 2014 and 2022, a 20% year-on-year increase could still be observed for gonorrhoea in 2023. Meanwhile, syphilis and HIV cases declined slightly, and chlamydia rose marginally compared to 2022, according to FOPH dataExternal link. 

“Promotion and prevention remain a major public health issue, and in order to guarantee a low-threshold service for our LGBTIQ+ community, we still need the support of the FOPH, both financially and in terms of public health directives or strategy,” said Christophe Catin, the co-director of Checkpoint’s Geneva branch, an LGBTQ+ health community centre, in response to the cuts. 

Beyond affecting members of the LGBTQ+ community and marginalised groups disproportionately, STIs or STDs in Switzerland have also been spreading among older generations. Straight men aged 55 to 64 declared more syphilis cases than 15- to 24-year-olds between 2019 and 2023. In the US, the CDC reported that gonorrhoea, chlamydia and syphilis cases among those aged 55 and up more than doubled between 2012 and 2022, mostly due to a lack of awareness of the risksExternal link. 

Edited by Virginie Mangin/gw