Doctors warn of U.K. sexual health crisis

Sexual infections in the U.K. rose by four percent last year, prompting doctors to criticize the government on Tuesday for failing to do more to tackle the problem.

Statistics released by the Health Protection Agency, which monitors infectious diseases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, revealed the number of sexually transmitted infections  increased to more than 700,000 in 2003.

Cases of chlamydia, the most common STI, jumped 9 percent and syphilis infections increased 28 percent. But cases of genital herpes dropped 2 percent and gonorrhoea infections fell by 3 percent.

'The crisis is here'
“Another year, another set of figures and yet more predictions of an impending public health crisis. Well, I’ve got news for the government, the crisis is here,” said James Johnson, chairman of the British Medical Association.

“Despite showing a slowing down of the rate of increase for some STIs, the 2003 figures still make very depressing reading indeed,” he added in a statement.

The BMA and charities said the rise in STIs since 1995 has left sexual health clinics unable to cope and patients are waiting far too long to be treated.

The Department of Health said it was increasing capacity in sexual health services and noted that there was a decrease in diagnosis of some infections.

“We have already invested 26 million pounds to reduce waiting times and improve access to genitourinary medicine clinics (GUM), with further funding being made available to modernize buildings and develop GUM services in areas where there is little or no current service,” Public Health Minister Melanie Johnson said in a statement.

Dr. Kevin Fenton, of the HPA, who released the new figures at a news conference, admitted waiting times for treatment in clinics varied.

“It is vitally important that efforts are made to reduce access times to clinics,” he said.

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Gay men and young people most at risk
Fenton added that the figures, which were collated from statistics supplied by sexual health clinics, showed gay men and young people aged 16-24 were the groups most vulnerable to STIs.

Nick Partridge, chief executive of the leading HIV/AIDS charity the Terrence Higgins Trust, said it was no surprise the numbers of infections are going up each year and blamed long waiting times at many sexual health clinics for increasing the problem.

The HPA said HIV/AIDS rates would be released separately.

“The situation is shameful -- we know how to tackle sexual ill-health, but a lack of national and local focus is stopping this from happening,” Partridge said.

The trust urged the government to reduce waiting times at sexual health clinics to 48 hours and called for easy access to HIV and STI testing services.

Anne Weyman, chief executive of the Family Planning Association, said a survey by the group showed that more than half of sexual health clinics across the U.K. advertised opening times of less than 21 hours a week.

“Treating STIs and their consequences costs the NHS an estimated 1 billion pounds per year. Fast access to treatment is essential to prevent the spread of infection and makes economic sense, yet waiting times can be as long as six weeks,” she said.