The toll of sexually transmitted diseases in Scotland has almost doubled over the past 10 years, according to figures released yesterday.
The toll of sexually transmitted diseases in Scotland has almost doubled over the past 10 years, according to figures released yesterday.
The overall number of STDs treated in genito-urinary medicine clinics has gone up from 10,919 in 1996 to 21,461 last year. The rate rose from 214.4 to 419.4 per 100,000.
One of the most striking increases has been in chlamydia, with 4443 women diagnosed last year compared to 943 in 1996, and diagnoses in males up from 827 to 4389.
The underlying figures are even worse because the statistics do not include cases diagnosed outwith GUM clinics.
Although the overall numbers are smaller, the increase in infectious syphilis among males shows the biggest increase, at 20-fold, from 11 to 234.
Diagnoses for HIV in males, while double the 1996 figure, are down to 70 last year from 94 the previous year.
