Sexually Transmitted Infections
Overview
 | Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are among the greatest infectious disease threats facing the United Kingdom today with over 700,000 STIs diagnosed at genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics in the United Kingdom during 2003. Preventative methods are readily and freely available as well as being highly effective. Additionally most STIs can be completely cured if found early enough and may only require a course of antibiotics. However, if left untreated these infections can be painful and uncomfortable or at worst cause permanent damage to health and fertility. |
In the South East STI rates have risen considerably between 2000 and 2004 with rates of chlamydia rising by nearly 40% during that time period. Although it may appear that syphilis is not a major problem in the South East, rates are on the rise and in England, diagnoses of syphilis have increased substantially since 1997, driven in part by outbreaks such as those in Manchester and London.
Chlamydia and gonorrhoea can lead to cases of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), an infection of the upper genital tract. If left untreated, PID can lead to infertility, tubal pregnancy, chronic pelvic pain, and other serious consequences. If syphilis is left untreated it can cause heart, liver and brain damage and some types of the genital wart virus are linked to changes in cervical cells which could lead to cervical cancer. There also exists a social cost to STIs, as they can cause emotional distress, stigma and discrimination for those affected and their partners.
It is estimated that at the end of 2003, there were 53,000 adults aged over 15 living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus ( HIV) in the UK, 27% of whom were unaware of their infection. Since the early 1980s, when the epidemic begun, about 15,750 deaths in HIV infected individuals are known to have occurred in the UK. Currently, the number of people living with diagnosed HIV is rising each year due to increased numbers of new diagnoses and decreasing deaths due to antiretroviral therapies. Although numbers of new diagnoses of HIV in the South East are not rising as fast as they are in England, they still are rising at a steady rate.
Key resources
Lifestyle and behaviours - STIs - Regional key resources
Lifestyle and behaviours - STIs - National key resources
For further information you may wish to contact the following agencies.
Sexual Health Policy Team
Sexual-Health-&-HIV@doh.gsi.gov.uk
Sexual Health & Substance Misuse Business Area
Department of Health
80 London Road
London SE1 6LH
Tel: 0207 972 5002
HIV / AIDS Policy Team
Contact details are identical to those above for the Sexual Health Policy Team.
Fpa (formerly The Family Planning Association)
2-12 Pentonville Road
London N1 9FP
Tel: 020 7837 5432
Fax: 020 7837 3042
Health Protection Agency - South East
6th Floor, New Court
48 Carey Street
London WC2A 2JE
Tel: 020 7492 0555
Information compiled by Briony Tatem. Last reviewed May 2006.