The top ten boroughs in England with the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections are all in London, figures revealed on Wednesday, amid growing fears of a “crisis” in sexual health services.
Data published by the UK Health Security Agency shows that Lambeth, Southwark, Hackney, Westminster and Islington have the highest overall rates of STI.
Lambeth had the highest rate of gonorrhoea in England in 2022 with 1,220 new infections per 100,000 residents – a rise of 19 per cent on the year before. It also had the highest rate of syphilis transmission, followed by Southwark and Westminster.
The overall rate of STI transmission in Lambeth and Southwark is five times the national average, according to the figures.
The figures also reveal:
- Lambeth, Hackney and Southwark have the highest rates of chlamydia with more than 1,300 cases per 100,000 residents in each borough
- Southwark has the highest rate of herpes with 458 infections per 100,000 people, more than quadruple the figure reported in Richmond Upon Thames
- The diagnosis rate for HIV in London fell by a fifth (21 per cent) between 2017 and 2022 but testing coverage among men declined by 3.6 per cent last year
- Lambeth and Brent are have the lowest levels of coverage for the HPV vaccine among 12-13 year olds. The virus can cause genital warts and several different types of cancer
Last week, experts warned that sexual health services in England were “very close to a crisis” with clinics forced to ration the amount of free condoms they give out.
Dr Claire Dewsnap, president of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, told the Women and Equalities Committee that access to sexual health services is “not good enough” as a result of reduced funding.
She said that without “sufficient investment, sexual health service users will face severe challenges in their ability to access expert, timely care”.
At the same hearing, England’s chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty said that gonorrhoea is “the infection where the biggest worry is”.
“Gonorrhoea is, in the UK and internationally, one of the most highly drug-resistant organisms we have,” he added. “So we’re down to a very limited number of antibiotics now which can be used – previously we’d have had a much wider range.
“Fortunately, this hasn’t translated into drug resistance for most of the other antibiotic-treatable sexually transmitted infections, at least not to this level.
“But if we are really in deep trouble at the moment we do need some new antibiotics or some new way of approaching.”
The Local Government Association, which represents councils who are responsible for public health across the country, warned earlier this month that rates of transmission would continue to rise without extra funding.
Analysis from the LGA found the public health grant to councils has reduced by £880 million, despite a rise in demand for sexual health consultations.
The Standard has not included the City of London in its analysis of STI rates as the area’s small population means that its infection rates are disproportionately high.
The figures come as Hackney Council released its annual report on the borough’s sexual health.
In the report, Hackney’s director of public health Dr Sandra Husbands warns that public health authorities “are not testing for STI infections as much as we did before the Covid pandemic”, which is “contributing to the ongoing high rates in the community”.
“The shift away from face-to-face appointments that occurred in both primary and secondary care as a result of the pandemic seems to be a major factor explaining the reduction in the level of testing for STIs across the City of London and Hackney,” it adds.
