The Government's safe sex campaign is falling on deaf ears as syphilis cases increase, says the National Party Health spokeswoman Judith Collins. The syphilis increase is particularly prevalent among gay and bisexual men. "The increase in syphilis, it seems, is due to so-called 'safe-sex fatigue' with more unsafe sex going on,” says Collins. She says older men may need to shift its youth-focus to take in older people because the increase in syphilis was among older people. Older men are also more highly represented in recent HIV statistics, with the average age of infection being 39. Syphilis has the effect of lowering the immune system, making those infected with syphilis four times more likely to contract HIV than those without. Sexual health physician Dr Nicky Perkins says the latest syphilis epidemic has “moved that extra step from being imported into the country to gaining a foothold in the local population” of gay and bisexual men, something doctors are concerned about.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 1st February 2005 - 12:00pm