Sexually transmitted infections rise as over-65s swipe right

Elderly people are driving a surge in demand for sexual health services linked to online dating, a report has warned.

Elderly people are driving a surge in demand for sexual health services linked to online dating, a report has warned.

Official figures show that sexually transmitted infections are on the rise in over-65s, with new diagnoses up from 2280 in 2017 to 2748 in 2019. Doctors have linked this to increasing numbers of older Britons finding new sexual partners after experiencing a divorce or bereavement, with the help of online dating. Some do not use condoms owing to the low risk of pregnancy, putting them at heightened risk of STIs.

A report by the Local Government Association said “the largest proportional increase in gonorrhoea and chlamydia was seen in people aged over 65” leading up to the pandemic and called for more funding to meet “skyrocketing” demand for STI clinics.

“The ease at which certain parts of our population can access dating sites is greater than ever,” the report said. “Digital innovations provide a raft of potential for improving sexual health service access, proximity and outcomes. However, the high use [of] smartphones and dating apps comes at a cost.”

It warned that sexual health services, which are run by local councils, were at breaking point and facing new cuts to their funding.

There were more than four million appointments at sexual health services last year, a 15 per cent rise on the year before. The LGA said that “slashed” budgets for public health services could lead to an increase in unwanted pregnancies and STIs.

David Fothergill, chairman of the LGA community wellbeing board, said: “Councils are facing a perfect storm of increased demand for services whilst, at the same time, [suffering] continued cuts to their funding. This is unsustainable and risks a reversal in the encouraging fall in some STIs and potential increases in unwanted pregnancies.

“Cuts to spending on sexual health, as with other areas of public health expenditure, are a false economy … The government must ensure sexual and reproductive health funding is increased to levels which do not jeopardise people’s health … There can be no sustainable, long-term solution to NHS pressures unless we have an equally sustainable solution for public health.”

Annual figures on STIs published by the UK Health Security Agency suggest that syphilis, often thought of as a Victorian-era disease, is making a comeback. There were 7506 diagnoses of infectious syphilis reported in 2021, an 8.4 per cent increase from 2020, when there were 6923 new cases.

Total cases of STIs fell during the pandemic because lockdowns reduced rates of casual sexual relationships and dating. Chlamydia is the country’s most common STI, accounting for 51 per cent of all diagnoses in 2021.

The Times