The number of people suffering from syphilis has doubled in the past 10 years in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province, the Information Times reported on Wednesday.

The number of syphilis cases has been increasing by 10 percent every year, said Ye Xingdong, deputy head of the Guangzhou Institute of Dermatology, at the launch of a program to prevent and treat syphilis.

The program aims to equip health service centers in communities and neighborhoods for free syphilis tests. People with positive results will be transferred to hospitals for further treatment.

A doctor surnamed Xie in a local health service center, which has been chosen to carry out the pilot program, told the Information Times that people can get free tests after showing their ID cards.