Shining a light
Chemsex: the facts in the UK and Wales
Real numbers, from published sources. Behind every figure is a person, and support is out there.
Getting help
Many people never reach support
of LGBTQ+ people who used drugs in the past year had never sought support (London survey of 334 people).
Source: London Friend and LGBT HERO, Chemsex Survey Report 2026
of recent users in the same survey named mental health as a concern, the most common one.
Source: London Friend and LGBT HERO, Chemsex Survey Report 2026
of 874 men who accepted a brief drug intervention at 56 Dean Street, a London sexual health clinic, had never used drug support before.
Source: Stevens, Moncrieff and Gafos, Sexually Transmitted Infections (2020), citing 56 Dean Street data
Wales
The picture in Wales
drug misuse deaths were registered in Wales in 2024, out of 417 drug poisoning deaths. That’s up 13.8% from 253 in 2023, the highest number on record. These figures don’t record sexuality or chemsex, so the full picture is hidden.
higher odds of being HIV-positive for men having chemsex, compared with men who weren’t, in a large online survey in England (adjusted odds ratio).
Source: UKHSA research
mentions of chemsex in the HIV Action Plan for Wales 2023–2026, even though UKHSA found strong evidence linking chemsex to HIV risk. We’re asking for that to change.
Source: Welsh Government, HIV Action Plan for Wales 2023–2026
reduction in new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men in Wales between 2015 and 2021. Progress is possible.
Source: Welsh Government, HIV Action Plan for Wales 2023–2026
Why we’re asking
Building the Welsh evidence
There is very little chemsex data for Wales. Most figures come from England, and especially London. That’s why Day One Club is gathering Welsh evidence through an anonymous survey, so that services here can be planned around what people in Wales actually need. No names, no emails.