Call for campaign to highlight STI dangers

A call is being made today for a new public health campaign to highlight the dangers of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

A specialist in Genital Urinary Medicine at St. James' Hospital in Dublin said the hospital has seen a 50% increase in the diagnoses of syphillis in the past year, while incidences of clamydia were up 25% in the same period.

An alarming number of those infections were diagnosed in women aged between 25 and 29.

There has been no public health campaign on STIs since that highlighting the dangers of HIV and AIDS in the 1980s.

Dr Dominic Rolley from St. James' said the upsurge in new HIV diagnoses proves a new campaign is needed.

"We had 400 new cases diagnosed by the end of 2009," Dr Rolley said. "And out of that there was about 165 heterosexual new diagnoses and 140 gay and bisexual men.

"The vast majority of diagnoses have been below the age of 35."