AIDS fund blames rise in STI's on Dutch gov't policy

The growth in the number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the Netherlands is a “logical consequence” of budgets that are too low for the Sexual Health Care Centers of the GGDs, said Mark Vermeulen, the director of the AIDS fund - SOA Aids Nederland, in an opinion piece in Het Parool.

Vermeulen wrote that the Dutch government has invested too little in STI care for years. The budget for the Sexual Health Centers, which offer free anonymous care and provide STI tests and free condoms, has not been adjusted for the increasing demand for care since 2015, he said. As a result, according to Vermeulen, the centers only have room for half of the people who come there in need of care. “It is incomprehensible that the new Cabinet wants to cut back even further on prevention and public health.”

Vermeulen also advocates for the return of an annual, national public campaign that emphasizes the importance of condom use, such as the “I have safe sex or don’t have sex” campaigns of the past. “The financing of the Vrij Veilig campaigns was stopped in 2011, and since then, condom use among young people has decreased every year,” the director said.

Vermeulen responds with his letter to the decision of the municipality of Diemen to start handing out free condoms. Although his fund applauds the initiative, it also exposes a problem, the director said. “Because the Dutch government neglects this task - providing access to good sexual healthcare - municipalities feel compelled to just arrange it themselves.” Vermeulen, therefore, advocates for a national approach. “It is time for the Dutch government to take responsibility.”