§ Mr. GaleTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the trend in the number of requests for treatment at East Kent hospitals for sexually transmitted diseases arising from the increase in the number of asylum seekers resident in the area. [57547]
§ Mr. MilburnMost sexually transmitted diseases are treated in genito-urinary medicine clinics which offer open access and confidential services; consequently information on users of these services is limited. The number of sexually transmitted diseases reported to the Public Health Laboratory Service for East Kent is small420W and trends are therefore difficult to interpret. Data from 1995 onwards for East Kent do not indicate any clear difference from national trends.