Good reason for not having a QL dating site!
S*ex and the Saga generation send STI rates soaringNigel Hawkes, Health Editor
Viagra-fuelled over-45s having risky s*ex with people they meet through the internet are being blamed for a surge in s*exually transmitted diseases among the middle-aged.
Married men in their fifties are the biggest risk-takers but women who are past worrying about pregnancy are also having unprotected se*x without checking their partners' histories. When they catch something they are reluctant to confess to their spouses — or even to admit that anything is wrong — and so infections spread.
Researchers in the West Midlands report a doubling of infections among older people in the past decade and call for information campaigns that are not aimed simply at the young.
The team, led by Babatunde Olowukure, of the Health Protection Agency in Birmingham, counted the number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) diagnosed in 19 clinics in the West Midlands between 1996 and 2003. The number rose steadily from 344 in 1996 to 780 in 2003, not including diagnoses of HIV/Aids. Genital warts was the most common diagnosis but the sharpest increases were seen for gonorrhea and syphilis.
In 1996 there were 23 cases of gonorrhea and none of syphilis among over-45s. By 2003 there were 152 cases of gonorrhea and 22 of syphilis. There were also 86 diagnoses of s*ex infections among over-60s in 2003.
The figures, published online in S*exually Transmitted Infections, are in line with national figures that show that between 2002 and 2006 cases of chlamydia among over-45s increased by more than 50 per cent and cases of syphilis by more than 100 per cent.
Sandra Gidley, the Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman, said of the national figures, published in April: “Most people think that STIs only affect young people but this is clearly not the case. The Government needs to ensure that information is available to all age groups, so that we can buck this worrying trend.”
The assumption has long been that the sexually active middle-aged are in low-risk monogamous relationships but one study has shown that 80 per cent of the over-50s are sexually active and 7 per cent engage in risky sex. The greatest risk-takers were married men aged between 50 and 60.
A recent survey by Saga found that one in ten s*exually active over-50s did not use contraception and did not know a partner's s*exual history.
The authors of the West Midlands survey say that older people are reluctant to admit that they have caught something and delay longer before visiting a doctor or clinic. “There is also growing evidence that the internet is being used to identify casual s*exual partners by all age groups,” they say. “This is associated with increased high-risk behaviour.”
They say that the introduction of Viagra and other drugs for erectile dysfunction “has altered the quality of life and sexual experience of older individuals” and that the greater the age gap “the more likely it is that risky s*exual behaviour will occur as condoms are less likely to be used”.
Julie Bentley, head of the Family Planning Agency, said: “We've noticed a rise in the numbers of over-45s phoning our helpline. Tragically, the s*exual health of men and women of this age group is largely neglected.”
undesirable acts...
Ten million Asians could be infected with HIV by 2020
New Delhi (IANS)
About 10 million Asians are expected to be infected with HIV by 2020, an independent commission on AIDS in Asia warned yesterday.
The commission comprising nine of Asia’s leading development economists, scientists and policymakers working on AIDS, urged Asian countries to chart a new response to AIDS.
Their 236-page report on “Redefining AIDS in Asia, crafting an effective response” was released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday.
“Many Asian countries are lagging behind in their response to AIDS. At current levels of response, 10 million Asians are expected to be infected with HIV by 2020. By then, AIDS is also expected to claim an estimated 500,000 lives annually if governments do not change policies,” said the report sponsored by UNAIDS, Unicef and UNDP.
India accounts for roughly half the HIV-infected population of Asia. About 2.5 million Indians were estimated to be living with HIV in 2006.
Twenty-six countries have been covered by the report.
Almost five million Asians are currently infected with HIV, some 440,000 people got infected with HIV and 300,000 people died of AIDS-related diseases in 2007.
Regionally, AIDS is estimated to be the single largest cause of death and morbidity due to disease for adults aged 15-44 years.
“AIDS has emerged as the single-largest cause of disease-related deaths and work days lost among 15-44-year-old adults in Asia,” the report said.
The commission, set up in June 2006, was assigned an 18-month mandate to study and assess the impact of AIDS in Asia and recommend strategies for a stronger response to HIV and AIDS.
“These numbers indicate the seriousness of the problem we face,” said C. Rangarajan, chairman of the nine-member Commission and chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister.
The report notes that India has managed to slow down the epidemic in some states like Tamil Nadu, which provides an effective and focused HIV response.
“Asian leaders in places such as Thailand, Hong Kong, Cambodia and Tamil Nadu in India has the foresight to recognise the threat of AIDS early on; they provided leadership that proves vital for reversing their epidemics,” it said.
Noting that Asia’s response approach neither matched nor kept pace with the unfolding realities of the HIV epidemic, it recommends that policies must prioritise on focused and scaled-up interventions towards unprotected commercial sex, unprotected sex between men and the sharing of contaminated needles and syringes. With an estimated 10 male clients for every sex worker in Asia, the commission notes that men who go for unprotected commercial sex are “probably the single most important determinant of the size of HIV epidemics in most of Asia”.
By pragmatically focusing prevention programmes to the sex trade and on drug use, it suggests that governments would make considerable progress in halting and reversing the epidemic.
The experts found that existing resources are not only inadequate but are currently not being spent on priority interventions that produce an impact.
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NIL ILLEGITIMI CARBORUNDUM
RED_POPE - He is interested only in certain kind of Men :)
Spare me your moment of Saint hood!!
Don't tell me that you never look hard other woman before in your life?
"If we are going to solve the challenges we face - we can't vacillate - we can't shift depending on our politics"
Barack Obama
in corrupted societies !!
... These diseases are uncontrollable in most of the developed Countries and spreading all over the places day by day ...
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aids wasnt heard of and people didn't worry about diseases just having a good time.
These days anyone, whatever their age, having unprotected sex with someone they just met, deserves everything they get
Its the promiscuous oldies that are causing the problems. They are trying to re-live the swinging 60s.
I got a mental log book, will that help with the history problem?
"If we are going to solve the challenges we face - we can't vacillate - we can't shift depending on our politics"
Barack Obama
and we teach our children to be so careful, pity some don't practice what they preach eh??