Prevalence and Determinants of Suicide Ideations Among Students of Selected Tertiary Learning Institutions in Lusaka, Zambia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a major global public health problem that affects millions of people around the world and has health, social, and economic implications (, ). The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that over one million people get STIs every day, some of which are curable STIs, which account for approximately 333 million cases annually (, ). A quite frightening figure indicates that one out of every twenty teenagers is thought to get a curable STI each year, although this figure does not consider viral infections like the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which are most common (). The global burden of STIs disproportionately affects adolescents and young adults. Defined as those aged 10 to 24 years, this demographic is responsible for up to 60% of all new infections worldwide, and even in the United States, where half of the STI cases are attributed to youth aged 15 to 24 annually (). The high incidence of infections in this age group can be attributed to multiple factors, including biological, behavioral, and societal (). Young women, for example, are more at risk of contracting infections like owing to the presence of cervical ectopy, a condition that usually occurs among sexually active adolescents (). The Adolescence is a critical time of quick biopsychosocial development, increased experimentation with sexuality, and stronger peer group influences, which often result in the adoption of unsafe sexual behaviors, such as unprotected sex and having numerous sexual partners (). Several primary factors explain the high rate of STIs among young people. One of the main obstacles to efficiently controlling STIs is the lack of adequate knowledge about their causes, symptoms, and prevention methods (, ). Studies repeatedly show that although the awareness of HIV/AIDS is fairly high, knowledge of other common STIs, their routes of transmission, and possible complications is very low (, ).