- Sexually transmitted disease is reaching "epidemic
proportions" among young women and requires a Government response
on the scale of the 1980s' Aids warnings, says John Reid, the Health Secretary.
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- He pointed, in particular, to soaring levels of chlamydia,
which can rob women of their fertility. One in 10 young, sexually active
women is now infected, and the past six years have seen a 139 per cent
rise in the disease.
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- In an interview with The Telegraph, Mr Reid said: "We
need to alert people to this danger - to bring it out of the closet, put
it in front of everybody and not be embarrassed about it.
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- "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.
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- "This is now reaching epidemic proportions. I think
the response of any sensible government has to be on the scale of our response
to Aids."
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- The powerful anti-Aids advertisements introduced by the
Thatcher government featured tombstones with the slogan: "Don't die
of ignorance." They were credited with helping to stop the spread
of the virus as young people took much greater precautions when having
sex.
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- Last week's White Paper on public health promised more
action to prevent the advance of chlamydia, including the fast-tracking
of a national screening programme.
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- This week, Mr Reid will announce further details of the
planned new advertising campaign. This could include targeting advertisements
at problem areas such as Ibiza, a popular holiday spot for young Britons.
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- Mr Reid said: "This is a huge problem for us and
it's growing. Chlamydia has no symptoms in many cases, but is a vast reservoir
of stress and anguish further down the line - not least because of the
terrible consequences of infertility."
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- The Health Secretary vigorously defended himself against
accusations that his White Paper's plans to ban smoking in restaurants,
offices and most pubs represented a victory for the "nanny state".
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- He also declined to rule himself out of the contest to
succeed Tony Blair as Labour leader following the Prime Minister's announcement
that he will step down after a third term if his party wins the next election.
"I think there will be four years during which there will be endless
speculation," said Mr Reid. "I have no intention of starting
another hare running."
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- He suggested that a younger, currently unknown contender
might emerge. He said: "In that timescale in politics, where a week
is a long time, at the end of that timescale there will be people who we've
never considered who will be candidates."
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- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004.
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- http://telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/11/21/nvd21.
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