World Sexual Health Day, observed annually on 4 September, highlights an important annual theme. In 2025, the theme is Sexual Justice: What Can We Do? It covers sexual health and reproductive rights for all, freedom from stigma and shame, and access to accurate, uncensored information about sexuality and health.
In 2023, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 2,459,140 cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia – a 1.8% decrease from 2022 but a 32.5% rise since 2014. 48.2% of cases involved young adults and teens aged between 15 and 24. Gay and bisexual men, and men who have sex with men, are disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted infections (STIs) compared to other groups. STIs also impact Black and Indigenous communities more than other racial groups, and in 2023, 32.4% of all cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and primary and secondary syphilis were in the non-Hispanic Black or African American population.
Emphasis on equality in sexual and reproductive care regardless of sexual orientation and race is therefore vital for improving sexual health in the US.  According to GlobalData’s Sexual Health Tests Stock Keeping Unit Tracker, a tracker that analyses purchasing records from 4,350 US hospitals, the most popular targets tested in the US are chlamydia and gonorrhea (CT/NG) as a dual test, with Roche’s Cobas test leading, accounting for 44.6% of total volume sales in 2025, and Hologic’s Aptima Panther tests making up 41.7%. When comparing the volume of sales from the first half (H1) of 2024 to H1 2025 for CT/NG dual tests, it decreased 1.7%, and when looking at total value, it also declined 1.8%. Specifically, the volume of sales, tracked by GlobalData’s Sexual Health Tests SKU Tracker, noted an 8.5% decrease in sales of the Hologic Panther Aptima CT/NG test and a 4.6% increase in sales for the Roche Cobas CT/NG test. Another popular sexual health test target, bacterial vaginosis, has also seen a volume sold decrease of 27.8% comparing H1 2024 and H1 2025.
Ongoing cuts to programmes funding STI testing, such as Planned Parenthood and organisations that serve marginalised communities, along with the decline in safe sex education, may have contributed to the overall decrease in testing. The reduction in testing could be even more pronounced in clinics that have decreased funding. When underserved communities, that desperately need more funding to combat illnesses outside of just sexual health, face more funding cuts, we have a vulnerable population that will remain vulnerable.
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By GlobalData
