Sexual health services must be protected to prevent a crisis | The big issue

A petition is the first step in the battle to stop the loss of ringfencing of funds

We were pleased that Nick Cohen highlighted the impact of the systematic reduction in public health funding on vital prevention and clinical services (“You don’t have to be poor to be an addict. But it helps”, Comment). Like the drug and alcohol services he referred to, there is a growing deficit between need and the availability of sexual health services. In London, a number of sexual health clinics have closed recently and patients are reportedly being turned away.

We are on the verge of a crisis in sexual health services, but the stigma and blame attached to public health issues such as drug and alcohol use can also be a critical barrier to convincing hearts and minds (and voters) to fight against this predicament in sexual health. Despite this, the fight is on. Already, 5,000 people have signed a petition to protect sexual health services.

Continue reading... January 14, 2018 at 05:35AM