Forum Brief: Sexual health

A record number of new HIV cases were diagnosed in Britain last year.

There is an estimated 49,500 people living with HIV in 2002, an increase of 20 per cent on the previous year.

A third of these do not know they are infected, increasing the potential for further spread, according to the Health Protection Agency

A spokesman for the DoH told ePolitix.com: "The HPA's report is a timely reminder to those commissioning and providing services that prevention remains the cornerstone of our fight against HIV.

"In the absence of a cure for AIDS or vaccine against HIV, health promotion remains crucial to our efforts to reduce the spread of HIV. Sustained public education campaigns and HIV prevention work have contributed to the UK remaining a comparatively low prevalence country compared to some of our European Neighbours.

"The National Strategy for Sexual Health and HIV launched in 2001 set goals to tackle HIV and last year we launched the first major adult sexual health campaign since the 1980s.

"'The Sex Lottery' includes HIV information and awareness raising for the general population, and responds to the increasing rates of STIs amongst the general population, particularly the 18-30 years age group.

"This is additional to our existing targeted work for gay men and African communities. We continue to fund the voluntary sector including the Terrence Higgins Trust and the African HIV Policy Network for this very targeted work and look at ways of strengthening it."

Paul Burstow, health spokesman, said: "This increase is a product of years of neglect. The government dithered over their sexual health strategy while waiting times for sexual health clinics increased.

"Ministers have taken their eyes off the ball recently and unless the government ensures resources are spent wisely to turn the strategy into reality on the ground there could be serious consequences.

"The government must redouble their efforts to get the message across that a significant contributor to death and ill health is sexual behaviour - not sexual orientation. Young people must be made aware of the risks and consequences of unprotected sex.

"It is a false economy not to tackle infections quickly. Liberal Democrats would tackle the root causes of ill health, not just treat the symptoms."

Forum Response: CARE

Adam Atkinson, spokesman for CARE, told ePolitix.com: "The figures, to some degree, demonstrate the increasing sexualisation of UK.

"There has been a level of complacency surrounding this area and this has had serious consequences.

"Our primary concern is the impact of the increasing rates of sexually transmitted diseases among young people. In our own work with young people, we find that they are often pressured into sex.

"They need to learn the relationship skills to be able to say 'no'. It is clear that conventional methods of dealing with this have failed."

Forum Response: Marie Stopes International

Samantha Guy, senior HIV/AIDS initiatives manager at Marie Stopes International, told ePolitix.com: "The year on year rises in new HIV infections and increases in the rates of other sexually transmitted infections obviously give cause for concern.

"The figures reinforce the need for far greater emphasis to be made on education and safer sex awareness programmes, particularly aimed at young people.

"The last nationally co-ordinated campaign to promote widespread public knowledge of HIV/AIDS took place in the 1980s.

"We now have a generation of sexually active young adults, and a further generation of children and young teens who are, or are about to become, sexually active, who have never benefited from a concerted national public awareness campaign. Such a campaign is long overdue, and should be coupled with wider access to sexual health screening and services, particularly targeted at young people through specialised outlets."