page 1 of 8
contents
of issue 83
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Our nation's sexual health is in crisis. The total number
of new STI diagnoses in the UK doubled between 1990 and 2000.
Syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhoea are among the infections on the increase,
especially in young women, gay men and people with HIV. If you have certain
STIs, the risk of HIV transmission - from you or to you depending on HIV
status - increases considerably. The upsurge in STIs in the UK, as it
has done in other countries, could herald a new wave of HIV.
The first two pieces of this four-part series are a comprehensive guide
to symptoms and treatment. Part three will look in detail at the recent
increases and ask: who is most at risk? And in part four we will look
at what the NHS is - should be - doing to combat the problem.
What are STIs?
We know of over 20 sexually-transmitted infections (STIs). This term is
becoming the
Illustration by John Clarkson
most frequent, so is the one we'll use here, but you may also hear of sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) or venereal diseases (VD). Clinics that deal with STIs are also called
