Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help reduce syphilis diagnoses among heterosexual populations; and what targeted interventions he is (a) planning and (b) implementing.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published a sexually transmitted infection (STI) prioritisation framework in 2024 to inform local prioritisation decisions for the control of STIs, including syphilis. The UKHSA’s STI Prioritisation Framework is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sti-prioritisation-framework
The UKHSA also previously published a Syphilis Action Plan, which is focused on actions to control and prevent syphilis, which include:
The wider population of heterosexual men and women should be offered a full sexual health screen when clinically appropriate, and especially when attending sexual health services. The UKHSA’s Syphilis Action Plan in available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/syphilis-public-health-england-action-plan
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the transmission of syphilis (a) among high-risk groups and (b) in general.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published a sexually transmitted infection (STI) prioritisation framework in 2024 to inform local prioritisation decisions for the control of STIs, including syphilis. The UKHSA’s STI Prioritisation Framework is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sti-prioritisation-framework
The UKHSA also previously published a Syphilis Action Plan, which is focused on actions to control and prevent syphilis, which include:
The wider population of heterosexual men and women should be offered a full sexual health screen when clinically appropriate, and especially when attending sexual health services. The UKHSA’s Syphilis Action Plan in available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/syphilis-public-health-england-action-plan
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that antenatal screening for syphilis is (a) effective and (b) accessible to pregnant women.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Syphilis screening is offered to all pregnant women in early pregnancy. The proportion of women taking up the test, known as coverage, has remained high in England for a number of years. The acceptable threshold is 95%, and the achievable threshold is 99%. Coverage has been above the achievable threshold in England since the screening year from 2016 to 2017.
This shows that pregnant women are being offered screening for syphilis as part of the NHS Infectious Diseases in Pregnancy Screening (IDPS) programme, are accepting the test, and are receiving their screening result. The blood test used for the IDPS programme is generally well-accepted by pregnant women, as seen by the high coverage rates.