Sexual health and HIV in Scotland

If your required knowledge of Scotland is limited to “Tartan tourism” and our inferior national football team, you may wish to stop now. If, however, you wish to find out more about how Scotland is tackling its poor sexual health, read on.

Scotland faces similar challenges to much of the United Kingdom with high levels of unwanted conception and rising STI and HIV rates. The population of around five million is concentrated in the central belt of Scotland with relatively poor access to sexual health services in many areas. Despite this, there has been a dramatic rise in diagnosed genital chlamydia infection, especially in those under 25 years old. There were 11 917 laboratory diagnoses between January and September 2004, compared with 10 124 during the same period in 2003. Although some of the increases in chlamydia are related to changes in sexual behaviour as elsewhere in the United Kingdom, testing has become more easily accessible owing to developments such as the Sandyford Initiative …