Why does London have so much sexually transmitted disease?
People in the capital find it hard to talk about gonorrhoea
As the country locked down for covid-19, Britons had fewer chances for casual unprotected sex. They also had fewer tests for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Not surprisingly, diagnoses plummeted. Not any more. On June 6th the UK Health Security Agency reported that nearly 83,000 cases of gonorrhoea were diagnosed in England in 2022—the most since records began in 1918. Cases of syphilis were at their highest since 1948. London’s rate is more than twice that of any other region, making STIs a particularly metropolitan problem (see chart).
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Clap for the NHS”
Britain June 10th 2023
- The difficulties facing Britain’s covid-19 inquiry
- Why does London have so much sexually transmitted disease?
- Children’s centres in Britain are crammed again
- How grassroots schemes are helping England’s non-white cricketers
- The fading charms of Britain’s historic cinemas
- Britons still do like to be beside the seaside
- British politics is littered with fake taboos
From the June 10th 2023 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Britain
The four worst words in British politics
Saying “not a good look” is not a good look
Inflation in Britain looks irritatingly persistent
Worse, the risk has appeared just as growth is sputtering
Labour lacks good ideas for improving Britain’s schools
Making private ones a bit more expensive is not an inspiring start
Britons brace themselves for more floods
A warming planet is making a soggy island soggier
Why meal-replacement drinks are shaking up the British lunch
They are being rebranded as aspirational as well as efficient