You won’t believe how STDs are taking over England and jeopardizing reproductive health!

England has seen an increase in STIs in 2022, led by significant increases in gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia, according to data released by the UK government.

Across all age groups, 83,000 cases of gonorrhea were diagnosed, the highest number since records began. Syphilis diagnoses at highest level since 1948 latest annual data much lower figures follow in 2020 and 2021, in part because testing has declined during the coronavirus pandemic.

The highest rates of STI diagnoses were recorded in younger people. Among 15- to 24-year-olds, diagnoses increased by 26.5% in 2022, with gonorrhea cases nearly doubling.

Chlamydia remains the most frequently diagnosed STI in the UK, with nearly 200,000 cases recorded, more than half of the total number of STIs diagnosed. It often has no symptoms but, if left untreated, can cause health complications in women, including pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility. Last year, 690,000 young women were tested in a national screening programwhich found a 10 percent positivity rate.

The World Health Organization estimates that more than 1 million diagnoses of sexually transmitted diseases are made worldwide every day. Efforts to reduce the number of infections include promoting the regular use of condoms and vaccines, while obstacles include increase antimicrobial resistance to many antibiotics used to treat sexually transmitted diseases.

Alan Smith

Our other rankings of the week

The number of foreign graduates granted the right to work in the UK more than doubled in the three months to March compared with the same period last year, according to the Home Office.

In the first quarter of this year, 37,692 graduate visas were issued, compared to 17,013 in the first three months of 2022.

Students from India account for the largest share of visas, which allow international students to stay in Britain for two years after graduation or three years if they have completed a PhD. Before the post-study work visa was reintroduced in July 2021, students with bachelor’s or master’s degrees had to find work within four months of graduating.

But some higher education executives said this was a temporary increase following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions and that the numbers would fall, particularly in light of UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s decision to ban higher education. most international students of taking dependents with them.

Countries like Australia and Canada have offered longer post-study stays under certain conditions, said Andrew Bird, head of international marketing at Bournemouth University. “While every other market is expanding this route, the UK is contracting, at a time when the attraction of overseas students is becoming more competitive,” he added.

Georgina Quach

According to Eurostat, more than a quarter of young people aged 15-29 in the EU live in overcrowded households.

There are wide variations in the figures from country to country: over 60% of young Romanian adults live in overcrowded households compared to less than 4% of young Cypriots. However, the overcrowding rate is higher for young adults than the general population for every country in the bloc. The overcrowding rate of young people is more than double that of the overall population in Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland.

A person is considered to be living in overcrowded conditions if his or her family does not have an adequate number of bedrooms. For example, a couple should have their own room, as well as each single person aged 18 and over, while there should be one room for single same-sex couples aged 12-17 and one room for couples of children under the age of 12. .

The published data refer to 2021, a period in which concerns have been expressed about the well-being of young people living under lockdown conditions, but overcrowding rates remain broadly similar to the levels observed before the pandemic.

Alan Smith

The UK’s Office for National Statistics has used World Environment Day to highlight how households are the largest single contributor to the nation’s emissions.

More than a quarter of the total is related to emissions from consumers, mainly from heating homes and driving to work.

Despite a 57% drop in energy sector emissions since 2006, overall emissions in 2021, the latest data available, were up 3% on 2020 figures. The UK pledged to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions of at least 68% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

Ian Bott

The number of unilateral restrictions imposed by countries on cross-border trade and investment has grown significantly over the past decade, reversing the trend of liberalization observed during most of the 20th century.

In 2022, restrictions on goods, services and investments increased by 14%, compared to the previous year, to more than 2,600, according to Global Trade Alert data compiled by the IMF. This is more than six times higher than in 2013.

During the pandemic, many countries limited exports of medical products and groceries. More recently, Russia’s war in Ukraine and competition between countries like the United States and China have fueled further protectionism.

Trade restrictions, such as tariffs and export bans, have proliferated in industries including raw materials and semiconductors, which are often considered critical to national security.

Alex Irwin-Hunt

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