China News Service, Guangzhou, November 7 (Reporter Cai Minjie) The World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention and Innovation was unveiled in Guangzhou on the 7th. The center will benchmark the WHO's strategic deployment of global sexually transmitted infection prevention and control, carry out systematic and forward-looking international cooperative research around the three core functions of capacity building, testing innovation and application, and surveillance system construction, and serve the capacity building of sexually transmitted disease prevention and control in low- and middle-income countries around the world.
The first China-Africa Public Health Forum was held in Guangzhou from the 6th to the 7th. At the Innovation-Driven Southern Forum on Prevention and Treatment of Sexually Transmitted Diseases held on the 7th, the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention and Innovation held an unveiling ceremony.
The World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention and Innovation was established based on the Dermatology Hospital of Southern Medical University (Guangdong Provincial Dermatology and Venereous Disease Prevention and Control Center) and the Global Health Research Institute. It was approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) on June 30 this year, and its term is from June 30, 2026 to June 29, 2030. It is currently an important WHO official cooperation agency in the field of global sexually transmitted infection prevention and control.
In terms of capacity building, the cooperation center will take the lead in developing a standardized "Advanced Course on Comprehensive Strategies to End the Sexually Transmitted Infection Epidemic" series of training systems, and build three to five professional online learning modules, covering needs analysis, strategic planning, community intervention, etc., aiming to systematically improve the planning capabilities and implementation levels of sexually transmitted infection prevention and control in various countries. The cooperation center plans to train 100 senior professionals in STD prevention and control for 15 low- and middle-income countries around the world by 2030.
In terms of testing innovation and promotion, in response to outstanding problems such as traditional STD testing's high reliance on medical institutions, long testing cycles, limited scenarios, and insufficient privacy protection, the center focused on key regions such as Africa and Southeast Asia to research and formulate three to five real-time testing optimization strategies that can be implemented and promoted, and formed evidence-based and implementable technical solutions and policy recommendations to provide evidence support for the update of WHO global technical guidelines and the planning of sexually transmitted disease prevention and control projects in various countries.
In terms of surveillance system construction, in response to practical pain points such as weak STD surveillance systems, missing data, and inconsistent standards in areas with limited resources, the cooperation center will develop standardized, simple, and easy-to-operate STD surveillance data collection tools, prioritize pilot verification and localized applications in key African countries, and build an operable and interoperable data integration and sharing platform that can be connected to the international system. It will aggregate and submit regional surveillance data in accordance with WHO unified standards to help WHO accurately judge the global STD epidemic situation, dynamically optimize, and accurately adjust global prevention and control strategies.
Yang Bin, Dean of the Dermatology Hospital of Southern Medical University (Guangdong Provincial Dermatology and Venereous Disease Prevention and Treatment Center), said that relying on the WHO's high-standard international platform, the cooperation center will integrate the advantages of cutting-edge scientific research, talent training and international cooperation networks, and continue to deepen technical collaboration, academic exchanges and knowledge sharing with member countries around the world.
During the next four years of its term, the Collaborating Center will continue to deepen regular communication and pragmatic cooperation with WHO headquarters, regional offices and member states, actively participate in global STD prevention and control policy discussions, technical standard formulation and guideline preparation, and systematically share my country's mature practices and innovative results in STD prevention and control.
At the same time, we will continue to expand bilateral and multilateral cooperation in key regions such as the Western Pacific, Southeast Asia, and Africa, build long-term technical assistance, academic exchanges, and talent training cooperation mechanisms, and create a core hub platform connecting China with the global STD prevention and control network.
