Short Cuts: Campaign to counter 'shocking' ignorance of STIs

Doctor Patient Partnership has launched a campaign to tackle male ignorance of sexually transmitted infections, which are increasing. The campaign with the Men's Health Forum follows a MORI poll that found 28 per cent of adult men questioned did not know what a genito-urinary medicine clinic was, while 18 per cent thought it treated teeth or gums. The poll found that men were much more likely to mention herpes and HIV as the most common STIs, when genital warts and chlamydia are the most common infections. Dr Ian Banks, chair of the Men's Health Forum, said the results were 'shocking but perhaps not surprising'. The campaign will stress that men can get help anonymously that 'won't be as painful or embarrassing as they think'.