REGINA — Saskatchewan doctors have received an alert from the Ministry of Health about the high rate of sexually transmitted infections in the province.
The alert is in a news email sent out by the Saskatchewan Medical Association with information from Dr. Denise Werker, the province's deputy chief medical health officer.
It notes that Saskatchewan's rates of sexually transmitted infections are high compared to the rest of Canada.
The alert specifically says that chlamydia and gonorrhea rates are consistently higher than national rates and that the 2016 Saskatchewan syphilis rate has increased considerably from 2015.
The alert also outline risk factors, testing and treatment, saying prompt diagnosis and treatment will help prevent the spread of these infections.
No one from the Ministry of Health was immediately available to comment.
However, the latest figures on the Public Health Agency of Canada website say in 2012, the national average was 298.7 chlamydia cases per 100,000, but was 526 per 100,000 in Saskatchewan, while the national gonorrhea rate was 36.2 per 100,000 — jumping to 93.6 per 100,000 in Saskatchewan.
