[lettie]

I have to agree with all of your comments so far. Anyone who has read the thread 'Alarming Health Stats' in the archives of the Hints, Tips and Advice section will know that this is a subject which I take great interest in. Now for the government bit...

For donkeys years money has been put into the NHS for general services etc. Sexual health services were not seen as a priority. In the last 5 years the government have been appalled by the number of STI's spreading through this country. We have seen a re-emergence of Syphillis, Chlamydia affects roughly 4 out of 10 16-24 year olds (both males and females) Gonorrhoea tends to happily co-exist with Chlamydia and about half of the people who have Chlamydia will also have Gonorrhoea. HIV numbers have risen tremendously and is more prevalent amongst heterosexuals. In 2001 the government brought out its first National Strategy for Sexual Health. This documented plans to upgrade sexual health services, make them more accessible and tackle the growing numbers of Chlamydia and other STI's.

It was followed up in 2003 with Guidelines for GPs with special interest in STI's and the pilot study for opportunistic Chlamydia screening which was started in 2000, has now been rolled out to several health authorities. Honestly we are finding Chlamydia, especially in the young, at a rate that you would not believe. So the government is doing something...........

Unfortunately it is nowhere near enough. You see, what has happened is that the sexual health services have received so little for so long that they will need a massive amount of cash to actually treat and screen the number of people who need it. There are now waiting lists for GU Clinics...... A massive campaign like the one in the 80's is needed now to combat HIV. The government are well aware of this but they won't do it. This is because the sexual health service will be swamped with people coming for testing and advice. Due to the run down nature of the services, they would not be able to cope with mass screening. They struggled to cope with the 80's campaign, so the government, even though they have been lobbied by the people who work in sexual health, won't do it.....

Anyone who wants current figures for STI's will be able to find them on the Health Protection Agency website, the Dept of Health website also contains the above sexual health strategies. Have a read of 'alarming health stats thread' it was posted nearly 2 years ago, that may give you extra info. I will be looking at the effects of HIV in Pregnancy in january for dissertation for my BSc, so this is a topic very close to my heart....