NHS and local government to roll out vaccination programme for gonorrhoea

The Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) and the English HIV and Sexual Health Commissioners’ Group (EHSHCG) have welcomed the world’s first vaccination programme for gonorrhoea that could prevent thousands of cases of the infection over the next decade. The vaccine will be offered through local authority commissioned sexual health services from early August.

Alice Wiseman, ADPH Vice President, said:

“We welcome the roll out of this groundbreaking vaccination programme which will help to tackle the huge increase in gonorrhoea diagnoses over recent years, which disproportionately affect gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with other men.

“Staff on the ground do an amazing job to provide support in a safe, non-judgemental environment but we need further commitment to provide locally coordinated programmes to prevent infections, reduce the health inequalities in our communities and reverse the increasing numbers of STIs resulting from people going untreated.”

James Woolgar, Chair, EHSHCG, said:

“Introducing the world’s first gonorrhoea vaccine programme into England’s sexual health services is a major milestone for public health. This initiative has the potential, as proven in multiple studies, to reduce the cases of gonorrhoea in specific groups by an average of 35%. It is a much-needed intervention, and one that public health leads and commissioners will work hard to embed within sexual health services locally to reduce the number of diagnoses nationally.”