Syphilis increasing at fastest rate since 1949 'due to damaging' government cuts

Syphilis diagnoses last year increased by levels not seen since 1949 as charities warn a growing “sexual health crisis” is being caused by government cuts to health services and testing.

Figures released by Public Health England (PHE) on Tuesday show there were 7,137 new syphilis diagnoses in 2017, an increase of 20 per cent on the year before, which already saw a record increase.

Gonorrhoea cases also increased 22 per cent in a year, to 44,676 diagnoses. Charities said this news was particularly worrying in the wake of the case of a British man who contracted a form of the disease resistant to all known treatments.

“This government is presiding over a national crisis in sexual health, caused in large part by the decision to implement year-on-year cuts to the public health grant which funds sexual health services,” said National Aids Trust chief executive Deborah Gold.

The impact of these cuts is being felt disproportionately by people in black and minority ethnicity (BME) communities, young people, and men who have sex with men – a group which accounts for 78 per cent of the new syphilis cases.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) were broadly stable between 2016 and 2017, decreasing by around 0.3 per cent.

However this may have been driven by a decrease in chlamydia testing, which fell 8 per cent, and though new cases fell 2 per cent, charities said this “is not good news”.

There were 126,000 chlamydia diagnoses and 1.3 million tests carried out on young people aged 15 to 24 in 2017.

New genital warts cases have also continued to fall, driven by the national human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination programme in girls age 12 and 13.

Rates are markedly higher in men and sexual health charity the Terrence Higgins Trust called for vaccination to be extended to men, which would also tackle rates of throat and mouth cancers caused by the virus.

Head of policy and engagement Debbie Laycock warned that services are already stretched too thin, and more cuts are planned.

“The significant rise in both syphilis and gonorrhoea shows why further cuts are completely unacceptable and would be extremely damaging, particularly given the emergence of a new extensively drug-resistant strain of gonorrhoea.

“There’s no clear plan for tackling consistently high rates of STIs,” she added, calling for the recent success in bringing down HIV diagnoses to be used as a blueprint for improving wider health services.

Dating apps have been blamed for the rise in syphilis in America.

In the UK, local councils, which fund sexual health, are at “financial breaking point” already and the Local Government Association said the £600m cuts meant they were in danger of becoming “unable to respond effectively to unforeseen outbreaks”.

Dr Gwenda Hughes, consultant scientist and head of the STI section at PHE, said: “Sexually transmitted infections pose serious consequences to health – both your own and that of your current and future sexual partners.

“The impact of STIs can be considerable, with some causing infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease and harm to unborn babies.

“Consistent and correct condom use with new and casual partners is the best defence against STIs, and if you are at risk, regular checkups are essential to enable early diagnosis and treatment.”