Tushar, a 33-year-old project officer in Amsterdam, has had syphilis twice. He remembers first receiving the news via WhatsApp from his sexual partner at the time.
"They were really upset," he says. "They blamed me which wasn't possible because of the window period. It felt strange to be accused and it took some time to de-escalate." Tushar got tested and treated that week. "People mistakenly think syphilis is something that cannot be cured. People don't understand what it means to still have syphilis antibodies and not have the infection."
