WITH COVID-19 restrictions a thing of the past, it appears Britons have been getting up close and personal with each other, resulting in sexual health services being stretched to their limits.
The UK's Local Government Association (LGA) has reported that a combination of funding cuts and rising demand for care - particularly among retirees - had services "at breaking point", the Independent reported.
A report from the LGA revealed there were more than four million sexual health appointments in 2021 in England and Wales, almost half of which were for diagnostic tests for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and HIV.
A total of 300,000 new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) were detected in 2021, with the number of positive cases among the over 65s increasing by 20%.
With British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, to issue his "autumn statement" on Thu, the LGA's Community Wellbeing Board, David Fothergill, called for increased funding for sexual healthcare.
"To ensure councils can continue to meet the sexual and reproductive health needs of their communities, they need to see long-term increases in the public health grant at the upcoming autumn statement," he said.
"Cuts to spending on sexual health, as with other areas of public health expenditure, are a false economy."
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