Data from GRASP 2001 highlights the disproportionate burden of uncomplicated gonorrhoea found among black and ethnic minorities. Even though the GRASP figures account for only one in 20 of the total population in England and Wales and proportionately less when London is excluded, half of all gonorrhoea diagnoses at GRASP clinics were among black and ethnic minorities.
Age
During 2000, gonorrhoea diagnostic rates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were highest in 20 to 24 year-old men (218 per 100,000 population) and 16 to 19 year-old women (184 per 100,000). These two groups also showed the sharpest increases seen since 1995. A striking 41 per cent of women diagnosed with gonorrhoea were under the age of 20.
This finding is in line with the UK having the biggest rate of teenage pregnancy in the EU, and shows that young people are more likely to have higher numbers of sexual partners, use barrier contraception inconsistently and are more likely to become re-infected after diagnosis and treatment for an initial STI.
Hot Spots
Unsurprisingly, the rates of gonorrhoea in London are higher than any other English Regional Health Authority (163 cases per 100,000 men and 70 per 100,000 women). London accounts for 43 per cent of all diagnoses made within England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Outside London the highest rates in men were found in the North West and West Midlands regions, and in women in the West Midlands too, with the highest increases also seen in that region, with diagnoses rising by 24 per cent in men and 22 per cent in women.

Next month: the politics around STI and sexual health services