STD report - Worrying trend reflects attitudes

THE inexorable rise in the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases is a worrying trend that reflects the changing trends and attitudes of Irish society in recent years.

For some time now, concerns have been voiced by the medical profession over the increase in sexually transmitted infections in this country which last year jumped by over 12% to a record reported figure of 10,695 cases.

According to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) the three main factors behind the steady rise are unsafe sexual practices, more sophisticated testing methods, and greater public awareness of the spread of sexually transmitted infections.