§ Sir Michael McNair-WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the latest figures for venereal disease as a total and then disease by disease; and if he will give an indication of the trends in this group of diseases.
§ Mr. FreemanThe available information is given in the table. This relates to new cases seen at NHS genito-urinary medicine clinics over the last 10 years. Not all patients seen at clinics have conditions which are sexually transmitted, and some do not require treatment. Some patients have more than one condition, and are counted under each condition found. Discernible trends over the last ten years are:
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- (a) The total number of new cases seen in clinics has been increasing steadily in recent years until 1987, when it fell by over 25,00 compared with 1986. This was the first time since 1962 that the number had declined. The main components of the increase were non-specific genital infection, herpes, wart virus, and candidiosis in women. However, cases of syphilis and gonorrhoea have been declining.
- (b) Since 1977 the incidence of syphilis has declined by 64 per cent. and gonorrhoea by 57 per cent. Gonorrhoea has been declining more rapidly, particularly among males aged 35 to 44, since about 1982, but there was a very marked fall in both male and female cases between 1986 and 1987. This is probably due to changes in sexual behaviour following the publicity about AIDS.
- (c) The number of new cases of herpes increased rapidly until 1985, but declined slightly in 1986 and again in 1987.
- (d) The number of new cases of genital warts has continued to increase at a rapid rate and now accounts for 12 per cent. of all new cases seen.
New cases seen at NHS genito urinary medicine clinics, England, 1977 to 1987, 1987–88 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1987–88 Syphilis 4,266 4,375 4,001 4,059 3,810 3,564 3,327 2,933 2,404 1,932 1,538 1,463 Gonorrhoea 58,734 56,673 55,062 54,433 52,200 52,156 48,393 47,662 46,314 40,705 25,265 22,884 Chancroid 43 52 42 54 91 125 80 40 61 47 39 44 Lymphogranuloma venereum 34 26 30 28 40 30 36 30 30 42 15 16 Granuloma inguinale 17 11 30 20 25 15 21 19 17 20 27 22 Non specific genital infection 95,491 98,390 102,390 114,306 120,018 128,197 134,079 139,352 149,524 157,792 131,383 125,973 Non specific genital infection with arthritis 496 457 456 544 583 501 462 428 487 504 533 571 Trichomoniasis 20,051 19,781 19,511 20,641 20,224 20,162 18,274 16,751 15,381 14,041 10,658 9,889 Candidiasis 38,090 39,564 39,700 44,604 46,947 52,404 57,876 59,668 60,517 63,108 59,768 58,817 Scabies 2,185 2,186 2,076 2,288 2,145 2,044 2,192 2,043 2,015 1,742 1,365 1,224 Pubic lice 6,058 6,778 7,478 7,966 8,718 9,799 9,093 10,183 9,859 9,333 6,920 6,628 Herpes simplex 7,722 8,406 8,854 10,043 11,147 13,653 16,534 18,301 18,935 18,800 16,699 16,510 Warts 22,766 24,136 24,490 28,176 29,704 33,343 37,899 44,050 52,177 67,068 74,542 74,655 Molluscum contagiosum 930 964 968 1,153 1,212 1,378 1,574 1,928 2,195 2,820 3,228 3,140 Other treponemal diseases 1,107 1,080 1,086 923 878 833 745 658 592 526 532 471 Other conditions requiring treatment 42,437 46,431 49,555 59,963 67,842 79,019 90,817 100,213 109,318 119,460 111,667 108,172 Other conditions not requiring treatment 95,537 99,268 99,813 107,123 111,407 117,127 121,900 120,951 130,162 143,092 168,556 155,527 Other conditions referred elsewhere 1,749 2,133 2,242 2,655 2,933 3,318 4,135 4,718 5,318 6,327 7,531 7,719 Grand total, all conditions 397,713 410,711 417,784 458,979 479,924 517,668 547,437 569,928 605,306 647,359 620,266 593,725