The number of people being diagnosed with chlamydia and gonorrhoea is at a 10 year high in Wales, new data has shown.
The new data from Public Health Wales also shows there has been a huge increase in the number of tests being carried out for the four main sexually transmitted infections - chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and HIV. This is mostly down to the introduction of postal testing in Wales, which enables people to carry out tests at home.
Gonorrhoea saw a huge 127% increase in cases in 2022 compared to 2021. Gonorrhoea is a "major public health concern" according to the World Health Organisation as it is resistant to many antibiotics. According to the NHS, if you are diagnosed with gonorrhoea, you are given a single antibiotic injection in your bottom or thigh.
Read more: 'I did a home STI test and found out I had HIV’
The data has also shown that once again there has been a decrease in the number of people in Wales diagnosed with HIV. There has been a steady decrease in cases sine 2018.
Key points from the new data:
- In 2022, there were 9,215 cases of chlamydia diagnoses, an increase of 22% on the previous year. The majority of cases were in females aged 15-24
- In 2022, there were 4,126 diagnoses of gonorrhoea, a 127% increase on the year before. The majority of cases were male and in the 15-24 age group.
There were 417 diagnoses of syphilis in 2022, which is a 14% increase compared to 2021. However, cases of syphilis peaked in 2019, with 433 cases.
A total of 60 new diagnoses of HIV amongst Welsh residents were reported in 2021, representing a 56.5% reduction over the last decade.
Diagnoses of 1st episode genital herpes saw an 18% increase between 2021 and2022, reaching 1,142. However, this is less than diagnoses in 2018 where cases peaked at 1,554.
Diagnoses of 1st episode genital warts continues to decline with 1,003 cases in2022, 12% less than in 2021.
You can access testing, free condoms and emergency contraception through various routes in Wales. Testing is available through sexual health services (NHS 111 Wales - Search Results), the online postal testing (Wales STI Testing Kit | Test and Post (shwales.online) or GPs. Free condoms are available through the postal service or if you are aged 13-25yrs through the C Card schemes (C-Card Centres | C-Card Scheme (cccymru.co.uk)). You can access emergency contraception for free, even if you're under 16, from sexual health services and most community pharmacies (NHS 111 Wales - Search Results).
We have put together the following maps which show the number of people who were diagnosed with chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis, genital herpes and genital warts, based on a health board area.
