STDs don’t just affect ‘bad people’, says Chris Whitty
- Sir Chris said rising STD rates will not be slowed unless they are destigmatised
- READ MORE: MailOnline’s map reveals the hotspots for gonorrhea growth in England
Sexually transmitted diseases do not only affect ‘bad people’ and must be destigmatized, the country’s top doctor said.
Sir Chris Whitty said rising rates of gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis will not be slowed unless people stop thinking it won’t happen to them.
The chief doctor said these are common diseases, often contracted by people “who lead incredibly conventional, sexual and romantic lives.”
He suggested people should think about sexual transmission in the same way as they think about other diseases contracted by ‘oral or respiratory transmission’, such as Covid or measles.
Speaking to the Women and Equality Committee, he said: ‘It is very important that we do not see this as stigmatizing in any way.
Sir Chris Whitty said rising rates of gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis will not be slowed unless people stop thinking it won’t happen to them. Professor Whitty pictured here after receiving the ‘Freedom of the City of London’ award in November
“These are common diseases. They spread very easily. A lot of people get them who lead incredibly conventional, sexual and romantic lives.”
He added: ‘The danger is that people think that only bad people and people who don’t look like their friends get sexually transmitted infections, rather than just saying, ‘look, this is just a normal thing that happens often.’
It comes as the number of cases of diseases, such as gonorrhea, has tripled in the past year.
Professor Whitty told MPs that there are about 199,000 cases of chlamydia each year, as well as about 82,000 cases of gonorrhea, about 26,000 cases of genital warts and 8,500 cases of syphilis.
He warned ‘large numbers of people are carrying these infections without knowing about them’, so the figures are the ‘lower end of the range’.
The number of requests for sexual health consultations increased by a third between 2013 and 2022. Nearly 4.5 million consultations were carried out last year, according to data from the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils responsible for public health across the country.
Dr. Claire Dewsnap, chair of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, said sexual health care in England is struggling with clinics forced to ration the amount of free condoms they give out.
When asked how sexual health services are coping with increased demand, Dr Dewsnap said: ‘I don’t like to use the word crisis, but we are very close to a crisis.
She added: “The access is not good enough. There’s no doubt about that. And there is no doubt that this is the result of reduced funding.
‘So we’ve had a real funding reduction of around £150 million over the last ten years, which goes to all sexual health services. And that has ultimately led to fewer staff clinics, because the vast majority of our budget goes to staff.’
Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said children were getting information about sex online from inaccurate sources.
She said: ‘The problem is that if you learn about sex through Tik Tok and you watch porn, no one uses a condom.
“They’re getting inaccurate information from unreliable sources, instead of where they should be getting it from.”