International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health | September 2021 | Vol 8 | Issue 9 Page 4362 International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health Sharma A et al. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2021 Sep;8(9):4362-4365 http://www.ijcmph.com pISSN 2394-6032 | eISSN 2394-6040 Original Research Article A study to find the awareness level regarding prevention and control of sexually transmitted diseases among university students of Panjab university, Chandigarh, India Aditi Sharma 1 , N. K. Goel 2 , Savita Prashar 1 , Kshitij Choudhary* 3 INTRODUCTION The diseases that can be transmitted from one person to another through sexual contact are referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). STDs can be contracted by having unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex with someone who has STD. But it doesn’t imply that STDs can be transmitted through sex only; infections may also be transmitted through sharing needles and breastfeeding. An STD can also be referred as sexually transmitted infection (STI) or venereal disease (VD). 1 Sexually transmitted diseases have emerged as a major health and development concern globally. It is estimated that global incidence of major bacterial and viral STDs is over 125 million cases annually. 2 A significant public health issue in India is STIs/RTIs. According to a community based STI/RTI prevalence study conducted ABSTRACT Background: Sexually transmitted diseases remain a significant issue among the young people. In order to implement effective preventive measures, awareness of the comorbid conditions and causation of STDs, as well as sexual behaviour, among vulnerable young people, such as university students, must be established. The objective of the study was to assess the awareness level of students regarding prevention and control of STDs. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted at Panjab University situated in Chandigarh, India between February and August 2020. Purposive sampling was used to recruit students. Data was collected using a pre-tested, semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire. The nature of the data was quantitative and was analyzed through SPSS version 20. Results: A total of 211 (female/male:51.7%/48.3%, mean age: 22.5 years) respondents were enrolled. The awareness regarding the safe sex practices was very high (98.1%). 99.1% respondents were aware of HIV and AIDS, 65.4% respondents who were aware of hepatitis B and 55% respondents who were aware of Gonorrhoea and Syphilis. To prevent STDs 86.3% respondents were aware of condom, 72% respondents were aware to avoid unprotected sex and 19.9% respondents knew of abstinence. Conclusions: Condoms awareness is still lacking in students. Consequently, it puts them at a higher risk of STDs. Such data can be used to strengthen ongoing STDs prevention efforts in India aimed at reducing STDs in young adults. Keywords: Sexually transmitted diseases, Awareness, Prevention, Students, Unprotected sex 1 Centre for Public Health, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India 2 Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh, India 3 Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Haldwani, Uttrakhand, India Received: 15 July 2021 Accepted: 18 August 2021 *Correspondence: Dr. Kshitij Choudhary, E-mail: kshitijmaanas@yahoo.in Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20213537