Sexually transmitted disease is reaching "epidemic proportions"

Reid delivers crisis alert on sex disease:

Sexually transmitted disease is reaching "epidemic proportions" amongst young women and requires a government response on the scale of the 1980s' Aids warnings, says John Reid the Health Secretary.

He pointed in particular to soaring levels of Chlamydia which can rob women of their fertility. One in ten young, sexually active young women is now infected, and the past six years have seen a 139 per cent rise on the disease.

In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph which was published on November 21st Mr Reid said " We need to alert people to this danger- to bring it out of the closet and put it in front of everybody and not be embarrassed about it."

We need to run a campaign of information which tells people of the terrible consequences of irresponsible sexual behaviour and of transmitted sexual diseases. It should be of the measure of the HIV- aids campaign. That was very effective- it changed people's behaviour.

This is now reaching epidemic proportions. I think the response of any reasonable government has to be on the scale of the response to Aids."

The White Paper on public health promised more action to prevent the advance of Chlamydia included the fast tracking of a national screening programme.

Mr Reid was further quotes as saying " This is a huge problem for us and it's growing. Chlamydia has no symptoms in many cases, but it is a vast reservoir of stress and anguish further down the line- not least because of the terrible consequences of infertility."