PENSIONERS in their 80s have been getting treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.

A campaign is to be launched to get the over-45s in Oxfordshire to practise safe sex.

NHS Oxfordshire, the county’s primary care trust, blames a rise in sexual infections on “a changing world”.

Medical staff believe people living longer, coupled with rising divorce rates, may be responsible for the rise in infections among so-called ‘baby boomers’ who may have missed out on sexual health messages.

The trust also believes older people do not think they need to use condoms because the chances of getting pregnant are significantly reduced.

Although it could not offer any data because of a change in the way information has been collated for the past two years, a trust spokesman said it knew there had been a significant rise in the number of people over 45 with the five main sexually transmitted infections (STIs) because of the national trends.

Nationally, between 2000 and 2009, the Health Protection Agency found that 45 to 64-year-olds saw the biggest rise in syphilis, herpes, chlamydia and genital warts cases and the second-biggest rise in gonorrhoea, beaten only by the over-65s.

Jackie Sherrard, lead consultant in genitourinary medicine at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital, said said she had seen patients in their 70s and and 80s.

She added: “I think perhaps with some older people they don’t quite understand the risks that they’re taking.

“Many feel they no longer need contraception because they are no longer fertile, so they don't think about using a condom in the same way younger people do.”

Dr Jonathan McWilliam, the director of public health for NHS Oxfordshire, said: “You only have to have sex without a condom once to catch an STI that could affect you for life.”

Health adviser Jen Fearnley, who works at the Churchill’s GUM Clinic, said: “Most STIs can be treated and it’s usually best if treatment is started as soon as possible.”

l For details of contraception and sexual health clinics in Oxfordshire, call 01865 456666.

l For details of the GUM clinics, call 01865 231231 or 01295 81918 or see sexualhealthoxfordshire. nhs.uk/default.aspx