Sexually transmitted infections on the rise in England

Britain on the whole, is not in particularly good shape when it comes to our weight or indeed our sexual health. Year on year we hear shocking news reports about teenage girls falling pregnant and annual figures on sexual health seem to always show increases across the board.

As it happens, statistics released this year from the Health Protection Agency show a 2% rise in new cases of sexually transmitted infection (STI) for England during 2011. Within this, there is a 10% increase in syphilis diagnoses – incidentally now at its biggest infection rate since the 1950s.

Worryingly, the percent rise of syphilis cases isn’t even the worst of the lot. In fact, gonorrhoea rates spiralled 25% during 2010-11 and there was also a 5% increase in cases of genital herpes. The latter may explain why we at Medical Specialists Pharmacy have been inundated with thousands of requests for genital herpes treatment in the subsequent two years.

In what is another problem that arises from failing to first buy condoms, and then to actually use them, the Depart of Health’s Framework for Sexual Health Improvement also paint a damning, alarming picture.

Abortion rates have gone up by 7.7% in the decade between 2001 and 2011, which is no surprise when more statistics show that up to 50% of pregnancies weren’t even planned.

The Government together with healthcare professionals are continually battling to reverse the trends on STIs and pregnancies and it is this reason why awareness days/events take place every year, such as Sexual Health Week, National HIV Testing Week and World AIDS Day – all of which Medical Specialists have proudly supported by giving away 1,000s of condoms with any sexual health product.

In fact pharmacies such as Medical Specialists are at the forefront of providing sexual health services to the many millions of people who need them.

These services are absolutely vital to people all over the UK and indeed the world, and include things such as medicine supply; this could be chlamydia treatment, genital herpes treatment, or treatment for gonorrhoea.

Also many pharmacies such as ourselves can offer pregnancy tests to be conducted in the comfort of your own home, a wide variety of condoms to suit different preferences, emergency hormonal contraception (morning after pill), other contraceptive pills, and even a chlamydia test you can take at home and post off for a quick analysis and result, saving you the time and embarrassment of having to personally attend a clinic for a check-up.

The role of pharmacy clearly has an important role to play in changing people’s attitudes to STIs, unplanned pregnancy, contraception, and other sexual health subjects. However, what is required is people to reach out and ask for help, don’t be afraid, know that there at pharmacies who will not judge and are purely there to help. Let’s make 2014 a healthy year…Together.

The bubble bursts for condom counterfeit ring in China

Police in China have broken up a huge counterfeit ring responsible for the production of millions of fake branded condoms including variations of Durex, Contex and Jissbon.

According to reports, underground workshops were found to be operating in central and eastern China and police in Jinjiang, in the Fujian province, are believed to have seized more than 4.6 million fully-packaged fake contraceptives that have a combined worth of around 47.7 million Yuan (£5.1 million). In addition, 1,100 pounds of unpackaged condoms were also found.

The game was up for the counterfeiters in February when a police officer in the Fujian province realised that a store on Taobao.com, China’s biggest online shopping website, were selling suspiciously low-priced condoms considering they were apparently ‘branded’ contraceptives. After purchasing some from the store, tests were conducted on the condoms and unsurprisingly they were found to be counterfeits. The phony condoms being offered on the online store were then tracked to a number of illegal workshops.

Information released by Chinese police officers last week confirmed that 37 suspects from Fujian, Zhejiang and Henan provinces were apprehended following police raids on the workshops that occurred on 29 March.

During one of the raids; a workshop in the countryside of southeast China’s Fujian province, police discovered dozens of workers in a poorly lit room. The workers were busy on a production line applying lubrication to the condoms. The dangerous fake contraceptives were stacked up high ready to be shipped off to the unsuspecting public, and police commented that the cheap oil lubricants used on the condoms left a disgusting odour in the room.

It has emerged that one of the two main figures behind the counterfeit ring is a man surnamed Liu. Allegedly, he began his operation in December of last year, purchasing raw latex from a factory in Hebei – the surrounding providence of the capital, Beijing. Cheap lubricants were then applied and the phony condoms were packed up in bags and boxes that bore the names of well-known brands. According to police, Liu’s workers were producing up to an incredible 20,000 fake condoms each day; each costing 0.17 Yuan (£0.02) to produce and then sold on for 1 Yuan (£0.11).

After interrogation, Liu admitted to police that the condoms produced in his workshops were mainly sold on the internet, and through small vendors, pharmacies, supermarkets and rural sex toy stores.
This comes just a month after Ghana was hit with a ‘major public health issue’ after one million condoms provided to the country’s health service were shockingly discovered to have holes in them and were susceptible to bursting easily. The condoms were from the branded ‘Be Safe’ line, all imported from China.

“When we tested those condoms, we found that they are poor quality, can burst in the course of sexual activity, and have holes which expose the users to unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease,” Thomas Amedzra, head of drug enforcement at the Ghanaian Food and Drug Authority, commented to the Guardian newspaper.

It seems that Chinese police are upping the ante however in their quest to beat the counterfeiters. Just last week, £21 million of counterfeit designer goods were set alight and destroyed in an extravagant public event which they surely hope will show the world they are cracking down on the illegal trade. Everything from counterfeit cigarettes, handbags, cosmetics and even wine, were all thrown onto a fire in Guiyang, southwest China’s Guizhou Province.

Male and female contraception should only be purchased from a highly reputable source such as Medical Specialists Pharmacy. Every medication or product dispatched to our patients is 100% genuine and their health is at the core of our business practice. We have a wide range of both Durex and Skins condoms at great prices from our chemist shop. However, if you suspect you may have used a low-quality fake condom, we offer a Clamelle chlamydia test kit for just £24.85 which can be used in the privacy of your own home to prevent an embarrassing visit to your GP. Or, if you have been diagnosed as having chlamydia or gonorrhoea, the antibiotic Azithromycin can prevent the spread of the bacteria so that your body’s natural defences can fight back and remove the infection from your system.