Hackney has the highest rates of STIs in Britain

Hackney has the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections in Britain, it was revealed yesterday.

London has the highest rates of STI's compared with any other city in Britain and City and Hackney came first out of NHS London trusts, with nearly 2.5 cases for every 100 people in the borough. .

Teenage girls and women in their early twenties are most at risk, according to the figures released by the Health Protection Agency.

Clinics in the capital made 63,630 diagnoses of diseases such as chlamydia and gonorrhea last year — up from 57,945 in 2008.

Nine out of 31 London NHS trusts topped the league for the highest rates of STIs overall in England.

Experts warned the findings reveal that safe sex messages such as using condoms are failing to get through.

The BBC's home editor Mark Easton claimed that it could just be that the rise in diagnoses "can be almost entirely explained by a massive increase in young people coming forward to be tested for chlamydia. And the proportion testing positive is actually going down."

Dr Helen Maguire, who tracks STI trends for the agency, said: “These latest figures reveal STIs to be a major and ongoing health issue in London.

“If we are to reduce this trend of poor sexual health in London then people must take responsibility for their own sexual well-being and ensure they use a condom with all new and casual partners.”

This is the first year detailed local figures are available and they show increases in all of the five most common STIs across London last year despite a fall in 2008.

If you are worried about STI's visit the City and Hackney Community Sexual Health Services website.

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