Cases of a Victorian disease spread by having unprotected sex are on the rise across towns and cities in England as sexual health services face “unprecedented increases in demand”. The latest NHS data has revealed there were more cases of gonorrhoea in England in 2022 than at any time since records began more than 100 years ago.
While the Covid pandemic and lockdowns saw gonorrhoea cases drop off, they returned to a record high of 82,500 cases in 2022. That was 50 percent more than the previous year and 16 percent higher than before the pandemic in 2019.
A new analysis by the Local Government Association showed that 97 percent of council areas have seen a surge in the diagnosis rate of gonorrhoea, with 10 local authorities seeing rates triple.
Furthermore, the demand for sexual health services has continued to grow, with nearly 4.5 million consultations carried out in 2022, up by a third since 2013. In 2022, there were 2.2 million diagnostic tests carried out, which represents a 13 percent increase from the year before.
David Fothergill, chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said the Government “needs to ensure sexual health funding is increased to levels which match these stark increases”. He added: “These statistics show that local sexual health services are grappling with unprecedented increases in demand.
“Councils have been working hard to encourage more people to access sexual health services and get tested more regularly to help improve detection rates and catch infections early.
“Investment in sexual health services helps to prevent longer-term illness and unwanted pregnancies, reducing pressure on our NHS and improving the health of people across our communities.”
Data from the LGA found the public health grant to councils has been reduced by £880 million, with the organisation calling on the Government to create a 10-year sexual health strategy and to publish the 2024/25 public health grant allocations which will provide an increase in funding.
Dr Claire Dewsnap, president of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, warned that without “sufficient investment, sexual health service users will face severe challenges in their ability to access expert, timely care”.
She said: “This data not only demonstrates the deeply concerning trajectory of STI infection growth but also the need for a robust national strategy, backed up by adequate funding.
“As demand for care increases, without imminent action, we compromise our ability to safeguard the sexual health of our nation.”
The data also suggested that the risk of contracting gonorrhoea is around three times higher in London than anywhere else in England.The rates in the capital and the surrounding Greater London were measured at 383 infections per 100,000 people.
The next highest risk is in the North West (133 infections per 100,000 people) and then Yorkshire and the Humber. On the other hand, the lowest rates are in the East of England (66).
Figures for council areas showed that Lambeth had the biggest problem with gonorrhoea. In 2022, there were 3,875 infections documented.
To better illustrate this, the data indicates that one in every 100 people living in the London borough caught gonorrhoea that year. However, some cases may relate to individuals contracting the infection multiple times.
Outside the capital, Liverpool had the highest rates of gonorrhoea (317 per 100,000 population), followed by Manchester (312) and Nottingham (308).
The red flag signs of gonorrhoea to watch out for include a thick green or yellow discharge from the vagina or penis, pain when peeing, and bleeding between periods. The NHS recommends visiting a sexual health clinic if you have any of the symptoms of gonorrhoea.
