Preventing STIs
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What is the scale of the problem?
STIs are a major public health concern, which may seriously impact the health and wellbeing of affected individuals, as well as being costly to healthcare services. If left undiagnosed and untreated, common STIs can cause a range of complications and long-term health problems, from adverse pregnancy outcomes to neonatal and infant infections, and cardiovascular and neurological damage.
In 2018, there were 447,694 new diagnoses of STIs made at sexual health services (SHSs) in England, a 5% increase since 2017 when 422,147 new STI diagnoses were made. Of these, the most commonly diagnosed STIs were:
- chlamydia (49% of all new diagnoses)
- first episode genital warts (13%)
- gonorrhoea (13%)
- first episode genital herpes (8%)
Gonorrhoea and syphilis have re-emerged as major public health concerns, especially among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM). In 2018, 47% of gonorrhoea and 75% of syphilis diagnoses were in MSM. Since 2009, gonor...
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