SINGAPORE, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) other than HIV in Singapore have grown from about 11,000 in2006 to 12,300 in 2008, local media reported on Thursday.

    Calling the rise of STIs "especially alarming", Singapore's Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said that the STIs among those underage 20 has doubled from 61 cases per 100,000 in 2000 in that age group, to 133 per 100,000 in 2008. Among those in their 20s and 30s, the rate jumped by two-thirds from 270 to 451 per 100,000, local TV broadcaster Channel News Asia reported.

    Khaw told the parliament that Singapore citizens accounted for about 62 percent of the cases. And 7 in 10 cases involved young adults.

    The three main STIs are gonorrhoea, non-gonococcal urethritis and syphilis.