From the Times of India:

China is experiencing an epidemic of syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease that the country virtually wiped out in the 1960s, a senior public health official was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

In the WHO Bulletin, a journal produced by the World Health Organization, Xiang-Sheng Chen of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention said mass migration of rural workers to Chinese cities has been a major factor in the viral spread.

While China nearly eradicated syphilis “through a powerful campaign of propaganda, mass screening, closing brothels and providing free treatment for sex workers”, the expert said “the epidemic has re-emerged since the economic boom of the 1980s”… Much of the rise has come from unsafe practices of migrant workers, including men who left their wives back in their villages and solicit sex from prostitutes who do not use condoms, Chen said. Fears of stigma and a lack of privacy have also kept many patients from going to seek treatment for syphilis.