Sex health warning as case numbers rise

THE risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease in Guernsey is rising sharply. Genito-urinary specialist Dr Nick King believes the number of infections has risen this year to mirror worrying statistics in the UK. He said that instances of gonorrhoea have increased. 'We have more gonorrhoea and that disease is a barometer of the sexual health of a population. 'There is evidence of increased sexual activity coming through. There are many teenagers under-16 who are sexually active. We may not be inundated with teenage pregnancies, but they are there,' said Dr King. He said many islanders appeared to be paying scant regard to their sexual health and needed to be more aware of the risks they exposed themselves to by having unsafe sex. Dr King is today attending a Medical Society conference in Leeds on the study of venereal diseases. 'We reconstituted the sexual health forum locally last year and a strategy was launched. We are always considering our strategy dependent on what trends are showing,' he said. Dr King said that tackling sexual health issues was not just a question of how to achieve best use of resources. 'We have to look at funding, personnel and training,' he said. Although official figures for this year will not be available for some time, Dr King said that anecdotal evidence suggested that there were more cases of chlamydia and syphilis which, if not treated, can cause paralysis, blindness and even death. A report by UK MPs issued yesterday claimed that one in 10 sexually active women had chlamydia, which can cause infertility. There were also an estimated 12,900 undiagnosed cases of HIV in England at the end of 2001. The most recent official figures available for Guernsey were published last October and refer to 2001. In all, 1,192 sexually transmitted infections were reported during that year, 80 of which were transmitted through homosexual activity. The annual report of Medical Officer for Health Dr David Jeffs identified increasing infection rates both in Guernsey and in the UK, suggesting a failure of people to follow the 'safer sex' message. The report also asserted that many individuals continue to have unprotected casual sex. It further highlighted that many young people appear to wrongly believe that HIV no longer presents a risk and are being misled by media reports of new 'wonder drugs'. 'There is no "cure" as yet and the disease is continuing to spread in both the homosexual and heterosexual communities,' said the report. There were a total 13 HIV cases, three in females. However, a total of 342 people received HIV antibody counselling and had tests. A further 22 had counselling without being tested. Among other infections reported during 2001 were 70 new cases of genital warts and 30 cases in total of genital herpes - 20 in women. Teenage conceptions rose by 24% during the year and there was a 41% increase in births to women under 20. These figures were the highest for several years.