Remember the warning that voting to leave the EU could lead to an outbreak of ‘Super-Gonorrhoea’?
New data released on Monday by the EU’s disease control centre has highlighted a concerning surge in gonorrhoea cases across Europe. The incidence has risen by over 30% in the past 12 months leading up to the end of 2023, following significant increases in previous years. This marks the first time I have delved into researching and reporting on sexually transmitted diseases. The reason is straightforward: the EU Commission’s disease control agency brought this issue to my attention through their latest data release. What caught my interest was the unexpected connection gonorrhoea had to Britain’s political struggle during the Brexit era. In 2018, two years after the EU Referendum, Theresa May served as the UK’s Prime Minister, representing the Remain faction, while a majority in Parliament sought to overturn the largest democratic mandate in British history. Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer, another prominent Remainer and now Prime Minister, spearheaded the campaign for a second referendum, dubbed the ‘People’s Vote,’ to reverse Brexit. At a time when the public thought no further voices could emerge in the ongoing ‘Project Fear’ narrative, Niall Dickson CBE, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, entered the scene. Dickson issued a press statement warning that the UK’s health would face “significant threat” without a closer post-Brexit relationship with the EU. As Co-Chairman of the Brexit Health Alliance — a coalition of health professionals and pharmaceutical companies — Dickson argued that a health crisis could ensue if the UK and EU failed to maintain robust communication between their disease control experts. (More on this later).
New data released on Monday by the EU’s disease control center has unveiled a rather unwelcome guest crashing Europe’s party: gonorrhoea. The pesky intruder has seen a staggering 30% rise in cases over the past year, proving that it’s not just inflation that’s on the rise across the continent.
This marks my first foray into the world of sexually transmitted diseases — a topic I never thought I’d be researching, let alone reporting on. Why? Because the EU Commission’s disease control agency decided to drop this bombshell and, well, here we are. What really piqued my interest, though, was the bizarre link between gonorrhoea and Britain’s political drama during the Brexit years. Yes, you read that right — gonorrhoea and Brexit. Strap in.
Flashback to 2018: Two years post-EU Referendum, Theresa May was Prime Minister and the face of the Remain camp, valiantly trying to steer the ship while Parliament seemed determined to mutiny against the largest democratic mandate in British history. Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer — another staunch Remainer and now Prime Minister — was busy championing the so-called ‘People’s Vote,’ a second referendum designed to undo Brexit. The political chaos was enough to give anyone a headache — or perhaps something worse.
Enter Niall Dickson CBE, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation and unofficial harbinger of doom. Just when we thought the ‘Project Fear’ narrative couldn’t get any more creative, Dickson warned that Brexit could spark a health crisis of epic proportions. He claimed that without a strong post-Brexit relationship with the EU, the UK’s health would face a “significant threat.” As Co-Chairman of the Brexit Health Alliance — a coalition of health professionals and pharmaceutical companies — Dickson painted a grim picture of disease control experts on both sides of the Channel ghosting each other. Gonorrhoea, it seems, was ready to swipe right on this opportunity. (Stay tuned for more on this later).
“We should be under no illusion — if we fail to reach a good agreement on the EU and UK’s future relationship, that could be a significant threat to public health. This cannot and should not be ignored. It should be blindingly obvious to all concerned that that it is in all our interests to maintain these vital links.”
- Niall Dickson, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, Co-Chairman of the ‘Brexit Health Alliance’, July 2018
Here is how this was reported at the time
And here is how the subject arose again this week
A new EU record for rising gonorrhea cases
- 10-Year Increase (2014–2023)
- England: 129.4%
- EU: 323.6% (2.5 times the rate of increase)
From 2014 to 2023, gonorrhea cases in the EU increased 2.5 times faster than in post-Brexit England. Apparently, the EU is not just outpacing England in trade agreements but also in sexually transmitted infections.
- Increase Since Brexit
- England: 19.8%
- EU: 141.3%
Comparing data from just before Brexit (2019) to 2023, gonorrhea cases in the EU rose seven times faster than in Brexit-era England. Who knew freedom from EU regulations would also slow down the spread of gonorrhea?
Data Notes:
- The UK’s four nations have devolved health administrations. The figures presented here focus on England, as data from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland is not yet available. (Perhaps they’re too busy arguing over who makes the best tea to report their numbers.)
- To account for differences in reporting methods between the UK and the EU, percentage increases are used to provide a clearer comparison of the rise in gonorrhea cases across regions. Because if there’s one thing we all need, it’s clarity when discussing Europe’s least glamorous competition.
Science is an ongoing journey of discovery — or at least, it should be. Calling it “settled science” is like declaring a pizza “finished” before adding the cheese. It’s a construct cooked up by those with political or economic agendas to suppress dissent. And frankly, such a notion deserves to be tossed out faster than pineapple on pizza at an Italian family dinner.
True scientists know that even the most widely accepted theories are like IKEA furniture — always open to adjustments, no matter how solid they seem. This constant review and revision are what keep progress alive. Without it, the world would be as exciting as a library with only one book: predictable, boring, and leaving nothing new for future generations to explore or contribute.
A natural byproduct of this quest for knowledge is the open sharing of information across the scientific community, both nationally and internationally. This collaboration works wonders. For example, a research paper authored by a scientist in Cape Town might be the missing puzzle piece for a theory being puzzled over by a team at the University of Oxford. Science, after all, thrives on teamwork — like a global potluck where everyone brings their best dish. And let’s not forget the long-standing tradition of peer review, where findings are scrutinized on a global scale to ensure they hold up under the scientific equivalent of Gordon Ramsay’s glare.
This is the beauty of science — a collaborative, ever-evolving endeavor. But then, there’s the European Union.
Take the gonorrhea scare of 2018, for instance. Headlines warned that Brexit would hinder collaboration between the UK’s and the EU’s disease control scientists. This was one of many reasons why the UK should remain in the EU. Because nothing says “political unity” like a bacterial infection reminding us to stay friends.
Had newspapers of the time done their job — and not been so overwhelmingly anti-Brexit — this idea would have been laughed out of the room. Why on earth would Brexit stop scientists from sharing crucial information? Especially when it’s about potential outbreaks of nasty diseases — who’s sitting around thinking, “You know what would be fun? Blocking that!”
The culprit, unsurprisingly, is the EU — specifically, the EU Commission and its entourage of agencies like the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in Stockholm. After years of watching the EU up close, I can confidently say the Commission has all the warmth of a fridge freezer and the vindictiveness of a soap opera villain. From the moment Jean-Claude Juncker dramatically declared the morning after the Referendum, “This will not be an amicable divorce” (cue thunderclap), it was clear the Commission was hell-bent on making the UK pay for daring to escape its clutches.
What kind of ideology inspires people to trip over their own citizens just to score points? The case of UK and EU disease control centers being forced into an awkward long-distance relationship is a prime example of the Commission’s pettiness. Apparently, nothing is off-limits — not even public health. Because who needs collaboration when you’ve got bureaucracy, right?
And now, for the cherry on top of this absurd cake: since Brexit, our European neighbors have seen a noticeable spike in gonorrhea cases. We’re not celebrating, of course — nobody’s breaking out the champagne over that — but the irony is hard to ignore. For the record, the UK has historically had higher gonorrhea rates than most EU countries, but that’s not a Brexit thing. It’s just… well, let’s call it a cultural quirk. The real story here is the EU’s sharp rise in cases, which, unfortunately, doesn’t come with a Brexit-proof disclaimer.
[ Sources: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Gonorrhoea, annual epidemiological report for 2023. Stockholm, Feb 2025 | UK Health Security Agency — National STI surveillance data. ]
