A leading sexual health consultant has lifted the lid on battling rising rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Mark Pakianathan, a consultant for HIV/GU medicine at St George’s Hospital revealed a plan to move sexual health services out of the borough’s Tooting and Roehampton hospitals and take them closer to poorer communities - where problems with STIs are worse.
However, the 42-year-old warned the Government’s plans for the future of healthcare, which would give more responsibility to GPs, could threaten the quality of sexual health services in Wandsworth, and lead to a surge in STIs.
His comments come after Wandsworth was exposed as one of the country’s sexually transmitted infection (STI) hotspots, with 1,692.9 people for every 100,000 of the population having a new infection.
Dr Pakianathan, who has been an expert in the field since 1999, said Wandsworth suffered higher rates of STIs because it has “a highly fluid population, is very mobile, and has a high proportion of gay men and ethnic minorities”. He pin-pointed deprived communities as being problem areas and acknowledged STIs as being prevalent in gang culture.
Dr Pakianathan revealed 4.7 per 1,000 of the borough's population had HIV. In 2008 there were a total of 961 Wandsworth residents aged 15 to 59 accessing ongoing care for the virus.
Dr Pakianathan added "home-grown" rates of HIV were rising.
He said HIV was not an issue exclusive to a particular age group, but admitted treatment was an obstacle for younger generations.
The consultant said: “Dealing with some of those young people can be difficult. If you come from an area of deprivation and you have not been going to school and not kept down a job it’s very difficult.
“The caveat with HIV medication is it requires the discipline of a soldier - it’s got to be taken every day for the rest of your life.”
In a bid to better combat STIs, Dr Pakianathan explained there was a plan to move sexual health clinics into poorer communities after St George's Healthcare Trust’s looming merger with Community Services Wandsworth.
And he urged GPs not to ignore sexual health issues by scaling down clinic times when, as proposed, they take on responsibility for commissioning healthcare services.
Dr Pakianathan said: “What you will get is people not being able to get through the door and then spreading infections to other people - you get an escalation of infections.”
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