A recent paper by a Belgian team discusses the health impact of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in sub-Saharan Africa, and highlights the potential short-termism of a strategic approach focussed on “quick wins”. Many of the health issues discussed touch on sexual health. The year 2001 saw poverty become the focus of the global political […]
Category: Sexual health services
The case for better Hepatitis C surveillance in HIV-infected men
Far more needs to be done to diagnose incident Hepatitis C (HCV) in HIV-infected men in the era highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART). This is the message coming out of a recent US long-term study (http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/01/29/cid.ciq201.full). Current US Public Health Service HIV guidelines endorse HCV testing only at initial HIV diagnosis – maybe because of […]
Centres of sexual health misinformation ?
A recent judgment by a federal judge in Baltimore US marks the another move in the ongoing political struggle around Crisis Pregnancy Centres (CPCs), or Limited Service Pregnancy Centres (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jan/28/pregnancy-disclaimer-law-ruled-unconstitutional/). These volunteer run centres have established themselves with some social service agencies as an appropriate referral for women facing unintended pregnancy. According to their detractors […]
Sexual health this week…chlamydia, female circumcision, WHO and America’s future
Better access to reproductive health care in the US: a promise stillborn? A Step Forward. Obama’s health reform (PL111-148), while conceding nothing to the pro-choice lobby, offers genuine promise of better access to sexual health care. This is thanks to Barbara Mikuski’s provision requiring all new health insurance plans to cover preventive services for women […]
STI on the BBC
We at STI were delighted to see that one of our research papers (http://sti.bmj.com/content/early/2010/06/07/sti.2009.041954.short?q=w_sti_ahead_tab ) had been picked up by the British Broadcasting Corporation `s news website ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/10401029.stm). It reports a dutch study on STI rates amongst “swingers” ( heterosexual couples who are practising mate swapping, group sex or visit sex clubs for couples). The […]
Are the new Standards for Managing STIs a good thing?
This month`s journal sees a stirring editorial by Dr. Celia Skinner (1) in support of the new UK standards for the management of Sexually Transmitted Infections ( 2), published by the medical sexual health charity “MedFASH” in collaboration with all the major players in the field. Many would see such a document as being rather […]
Chlamydia screening at the crossroads
As financial screws tighten, and a general election approaches, British clinical readers are expecting lean times ahead. Services for sexually transmitted infections (STI) are unlikely to get major billing in party manifestoes, and political support tends to be driven by committed individuals rather than public demand. These are particularly interesting times for England’s National Chlamydia […]