Sexual health remains a major global concern

The Global Burden of Disease Study has examined large-scale trends in death, loss of life-years, and the contribution of risk factors to ill health in 188 countries for over two decades. It gives a remarkable overview of global health: the biggest of ‘big picture’ views. An analysis specifically looking at young people (aged 10–24 years; subdivided into 10–14, 15–19, and 20–24 year age groups) is of interest to those working in sexual health.1 Unsafe sex appears in the top 4 on the list of risk factors for males and females, for deaths and disability-adjusted life years, and for the 15–19 and 20–24 year age-groups. Alcohol use claims the top spot, but also relevant to STI readers are intimate partner violence, drug use and childhood sexual abuse, which all feature in the top 10 for all age groups, male and female. Worldwide, HIV is the leading cause of death for individuals aged 10–14 years, third for those aged 15–19 years and fifth …