Category: Sexual health

Accessibility of genitourinary services uneven across England

The majority of the population in England have good access to genitourinary (GUM) services with only 3% living more than 30 minutes travel away, report Beth Stuart and Andrew Hind. However accessibility is not uniform access the country and people in the South West and East of England have the worse access compared to the national average. This might be important from a pubic health perspective because a study from Southampton showed that only 2% of young people were prepared to travel more than 30 minutes to access sexual health services.

Quadrivalent wart vaccine would prevent high cost of care for genital warts

In a recent study by Desai et al published in the journal Sexually Transmitted infection it was estimated that the annual cost of treating genital warts in general practice and genitourinary clinics was approximately £16.8 million. Most of this is potentially preventable if the government chooses the quadrivalent Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine which includes HPV typed 6 and 11 which are the commonest cause of genital infections in addition to types 16 and 18 which are the main causes of cervical cancer. Unfortunately the Department of Health currently advocates vaccination with a vaccine containing types 16 and 18 only which would not protect against genital warts and is also more expensive.

Older swingers at risk of STI

Swingers – straight couples who regularly swap sexual partners at organised gatherings and clubs and indulge in group sex – have rates of sexually transmitted infections comparable with those of recognised high risk groups, reveals research published ahead of print in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.

Those who are over the age of 45 are particularly vulnerable, indicates the research, yet swingers are largely ignored by healthcare services, representing a “missed target,” say the authors.