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Sexual disease clinics are failing to tackle the UK's rising cases of sex infections, warn doctors. Current inadequate capacity is creating a vicious cycle where failure to treat infections promptly allows them to spread further, they say.

In the Journal of Infectious Diseases, the Imperial College and University College London teams call for a big increase in capacity.

The government said it was working hard to improve access to clinics.

Rising rates

However, it said it would take some time for these efforts to produce the desired results.

The number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) recorded in Britain has doubled in five years.

The government has pledged that by 2008 patients will be seen at genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics within 48 hours.

Figures from the Health Protection Agency show that last year only 41% of people attending GUM clinics were seen within the recommended 48 hours, and 26% were not seen within two weeks.

This delay can lead to increased infections, and a further increase in demand on already overstretched services, the London-based researchers say.

Lead researcher Dr Peter White said: "Current levels of capacity have failed to keep up with increasing demand, resulting in yet more infections as many people are unable to get treated promptly or even at all, in some cases.

"Our work has shown that a significant increase in capacity is needed to tackle the current epidemic.

Urgent action

"This would be an investment, with the pay-off that it would reduce the number of infections that occur in the future, and would reduce rates of complications like infertility, which are costly to treat."

Dr Angela Robinson, president of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV warned: "With waits of up to eight weeks for a routine screen for STI in some parts of the country and some people being turned away who may never get seen, STIs will continue to rise until capacity is increased sufficiently in specialist services with the experience to deal with cases efficiently and speedily."

A spokeswoman from the Department of Health said: "We recognise there is still a long way to go before we meet our 2008 target.

"We have responded to this by committing an extra £130m for GUM services between 2006 and 2008 - allowing clinics to expand their services and offer more and more people access to early treatment."

BBC News

Students are risking an epidemic of sexually transmitted disease because they cannot get access to check-ups, it has been warned. The students' union in Aberdeen said appointments were being turned down.

The city's health clinic admits it cannot cope with demand and that one-in-10 people on its waiting list for treatment are probably infected.

A sexual health plan, stressing information and access to services, was launched by ministers in January.

But the students' union claimed efforts to combat infections were being undermined by the lack of access to treatment.

It said students have had to fabricate symptoms or pretend they fall into a high risk category to be seen.

Doctors at the Aberdeen Royal Hospital sexual health clinic admit that they are currently overwhelmed by demand and that the waiting list for a routine check-up is currently one month.

The Scottish Executive's Action Plan for Improving Sexual Health is aimed at tackling high rates of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and unwanted pregnancy.

It has pledged redesigned sexual health services to ensure improved access in all areas of the country.

But students' union spokesman Paul Richards said: "If the NHS can't be providing this, then there's no point in the Scottish Executive and student associations and whoever else running campaigns raising awareness, because there's no solution."

BBC News

Amazon has started selling sex toys on its website as part of a drive to broaden its product range.

Visitors to the US Amazon.com site can now choose from 37,000 items in the Sex and Sensuality sub-section. The current best selling items are lubricants and condoms, with no vibrators making it into the top 100 best sellers.

A spokeswoman for Amazon.co.uk confirmed the move but said there were no plans to introduce a similar section for UK customers.

She emphasised that the items were part of the Health and Personal Care section and would be treated as such.

The move has prompted a slight change in Amazon's sales terms. Its returns policy, recognised as very good by the standards of the industry, covers very few of the products on offer.

In addition the 'share your own customer images' section is no longer in operation, although the engine which logs similar purchases and the user review section have been retained.

Iain Thomson
Vnunet.com

Having perfectly styled hair appears to be more important to young women going on their summer break than safe sex, according to research.

The study of 1,000 single men and women aged 18 to 30, commissioned by the Department of Health, found that almost half of the women hoped to have one or more sexual partners on holiday. Yet only 18 per cent packed condoms, far fewer than the 33 per cent who packed hair straighteners.

Similarly, while almost two thirds of men anticipated sleeping with between one and three partners, they were more likely to take sticking plasters than contraceptives. Just 28 per cent of men packed condoms compared with the 48 per cent who took plasters.

Two fifths of the men and women expecting to have sex believed that they had a low risk of catching a sexually transmitted infection, even if they were unprotected.

Dr Petra Boynton, a sex psychologist and spokesman for playingsafely.co.uk, the DoH-backed group which conducted the research, said that there is still a lack of education about how to have safe sex.

Last year, almost 700,000 cases of sexually transmitted diseases were diagnosed in England and Wales, according to the Health Protection Agency.

By Nina Goswami

Telegraph.co.uk

Health and Aids campaigners in Uganda are threatening legal action against the government unless it releases 30m condoms which they say are in storage. They say government policy on Aids has changed to reflect an American demand for a greater emphasis on abstinence.

Earlier in the week, Ugandan Health Minister Mike Mikula said government policy had not changed.

At the same time, a major donor says it will resume Aids funding, following earlier money management concerns.

The health campaigners, from 16 organisations, say an acute shortage of condoms is increasing the risk of HIV infection.

Last week, the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria halted more than $150m of its grant to Uganda.

But on Friday, a Global Fund official said its Uganda programme will resume.

"We need to set up a structure to strengthen the Aids programme in the health ministry, Global Fund operations chief Bradford Herbert said.

"The commission of inquiry will take a month to do its work. The suspension, I believe will be lifted at the latest in October."

Earlier this week, the government engaged auditing firm Ernst and Young in response to donor concerns about financial management.

Uganda is often held up as a model of how to fight HIV/Aids, with infection rates falling from 15 to 5%.

But recently Uganda's Aids programme was criticised by the UN's special envoy on fighting Aids in Africa, who said that Uganda - under pressure from the United States - was putting greater emphasis on abstinence to tackle the disease than condoms.

Ugandan denies any change in policy and the US has rejected the UN accusation.

BBC News

STUDENTS at two of Scotland's biggest universities have clashed over a "compulsory condoms" campaign that will see freshers being given contraceptives whether they want them or not.

In the Glasgow University scheme, undergraduates will receive free condoms during this year's Freshers' Week. But the decision has been branded "irresponsible" by a student leader at Edinburgh University.

Glasgow has decided to place condoms in its freshers' packs because of concerns about sexually transmitted diseases on campus.

The condoms, and a leaflet illustrating how to use them, will be placed alongside student literature, guidance and promotional material inside 3,500 sealed plastic bags handed out by Glasgow University's Students' Representative Council (SRC).

A further 3,500 packs, also containing two condoms, are to be delivered to university halls of residence.

Dan Guy, the SRC president, said: "People are going to say that we are promoting sex, but we are not. Everyone knows that there is going to be sex taking place during Freshers' Week. All we are trying to do is make sure sex that takes place on campus is safe."

The packs will be handed out when students pay for their fresher's pass that grants them access to events during their first week at university.

Sarah Tomlinson, the SRC's vice president responsible for student welfare, added: "There are a rising number of STDs, and national research has also shown that the abortion rate rises after Freshers' Week. We have to combat that, and that is why we are placing condoms inside all fresher's packs."

However, Ross Neilson, Edinburgh University's Freshers' Week co-ordinator, said: "We take sexual health very seriously and inform students where they can get free access to contraception, but we don't consider it necessary to give condoms out in fresher's packs.

"It is presumptuous to think that every fresher will be having sex. I don't think Glasgow should be doing this. It is promoting sex and that is not the signal that we want to send out. They are being irresponsible."

Religious leaders have also criticised the plans.

Peter Kearney, a spokesman for the Catholic Church, also accused the SRC of being presumptuous. He said: "I can only describe it as an amateurish, cack-handed attempt at health promotion by some staggeringly inept students."

ARTHUR MACMILLAN
EDUCATION CORRESPONDENT

Scotsman News

This weekend's music festival in Co Laois promises to be an electrifying one, with Durex handing out free condoms to revellers.

The company will distribute 12,000 "Think Contraception" tins complete with condoms and sexual health leaflets to festival-goers boarding buses on the Dublin quays.

A number of giant sperm will also be doing the rounds at the Electric Picnic itself.

IrenandOn-Line

The Malaysian government has ordered police to randomly check mobile phones for pornographic images. The move follows reports by a local newspaper that young people were swapping sex videos and images on their mobile phones.

Deputy Interior Minister, Noh Omar, said he worried the practice was becoming increasingly common.

Officers have been ordered to immediately delete any explicit images they find stored in the phones.

The owners of internet cafes are also being targeted and will face prosecution if they allow customers to download pornographic material.

Phone shop operators who provide download services for sex images could also be charged for its possession, according to the New Straits Times newspaper.

Possessing pornography in Malaysia carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison and 50,000 ringgit (US$13,292 or £7,374) in fines.

According to the Malay language newspaper, Harian Metro, teenagers are using their mobile phones to video mass sex parties and then send the pictures to each other.

The BBC's Jonathan Kent in Kuala Lumpur says new technology is challenging the government's strict censorship laws, among the most rigid in Asia.

Pornography is illegal in Malaysia, a country whose population is mainly Muslim and where state television censors images of people kissing.

But the popularity of the internet means the government has to balance its commitment not to censor the net with attempts to stem the spread of pornographic material.

BBC News

Pamela Anderson says she loves drinking espressos - because it makes her nipples perky.

According to Elle magazine she said: "I do great cappuccinos - even though my mom calls them 'cap-a-cr*ps'.

"As far as coffee goes though, I'd say espresso gets the job done - it goes right to your nipples!"

Meanwhile, she says women should grow old gracefully and accept the ageing process.

She said: "Don't buy into all the anti-ageing secrets. It's a conspiracy. We're all getting older so accept it. Don't waste your money on loads of products. Don't stress!"

Ananova.com

The Ugandan government has rejected reports by US health campaigners that the country faces a condom shortage. The US-based Center for Health and Gender Equity said Uganda had been facing a shortage for 10 months.

The organisation said the crisis had been caused by programmes promoting abstinence rather than safer sex.

But a senior official at the ministry of health told a Ugandan newspaper that the country had enough condoms to last until the end of this year.

"We have enough condoms. We just procured 65 million condoms about two months ago and another 80 million is on the way, so there is no shortage of condoms in the country," Mike Mukula told The Monitor newspaper.

"That there is a condom shortage in the country is just a rumour by people who want to spoil the image of this country," Mr Mukula said.

"I challenge anyone who says we do not have condoms to come and I show them our stores," he added.

He said the country uses about five million condoms monthly.

Uganda is often held up as a model of how to fight HIV/Aids, with infection rates falling from 15 to 5%.

But Uganda's anti-Aids campaign has recently been criticised, with some saying that under pressure from the US, it is concentrating on abstinence, rather than all three parts of its Abstinence, Be faithful and Condoms (ABC) strategy.

BBC News