Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall and Camberwell Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on the implementation of recommendations given by The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on the routine provision of (a) MPOX vaccination and (b) the targeted use of the meningococcal B vaccination for gonorrhoea prevention.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
On 10 November 2023 the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) issued advice on creating targeted, routine vaccination programmes for the prevention of Mpox and gonorrhoea.
Officials across the Department, the UK Health Security Agency, and NHS England are developing policy options based on the JCVI’s advice. A decision on the vaccination programme for the prevention of gonorrhoea will be taken following the outcome of this process. The policy position on the Mpox vaccination programme is being updated to reflect the emerging international concerns, and a decision on this is expected shortly.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall and Camberwell Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a timeline for implementing the recommendations of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on the (a) routine provision of MPOX vaccination and (b) targeted use of the meningococcal B vaccination for gonorrhoea prevention.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
On 10 November 2023 the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) issued advice on creating targeted, routine vaccination programmes for the prevention of Mpox and gonorrhoea.
Officials across the Department, the UK Health Security Agency, and NHS England are developing policy options based on the JCVI’s advice. A decision on the vaccination programme for the prevention of gonorrhoea will be taken following the outcome of this process. The policy position on the Mpox vaccination programme is being updated to reflect the emerging international concerns, and a decision on this is expected shortly.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall and Camberwell Green)
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 the number of HIV transmissions to zero by 2030.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
I would like to congratulate my Honourable Friend for her re-election and for her valuable work as Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on HIV, AIDS and Sexual Health in the last parliament, as well as her advocacy on HIV, particularly for the Black community in South London. HIV is a priority for the government and, as set out in our manifesto, we will commission a new plan to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall and Camberwell Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding her Department has provided for research and development into a (a) cure and (b) vaccine for HIV in each year since 2019.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department supports research on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The remit of the NIHR is translational, clinical, and applied healthcare research. Basic research towards the development of a novel cure or vaccine for HIV is supported by other research funders such as the Medical Research Council. The NIHR has awarded over £10 million of funding since 2019 for research to evaluate new HIV treatments. The below table shoes the specific NIHR spend on HIV treatments, for each financial year since 2019:
Year | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | Total |
NIHR spend | £3,260,413 | £1,884,962 | £1,299,676 | £2,377,284 | £1,209,822 | £10,032,156 |
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall and Camberwell Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding her Department plans to provide for research and development into HIV in the (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department supports research and development on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). For the financial years 2024/25 and 2025/26, the Government has committed to a new £20 million research project to evaluate an expansion of HIV opt-out testing, in 47 emergency departments in England where HIV prevalence is high.
However, NIHR funding awarded for HIV projects varies depending on the volume and quality of applications received and approved via open competition, which means overall NIHR funding for HIV research in the financial years 2024/25 and 2025/26 is not yet known. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including HIV.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall and Camberwell Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on how much local authorities spent on sexual health services in (a) 2017, (b) 2018, (c) 2019, (d) 2020, (e) 2021, (f) 2022 and (g) 2023.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The following table shows how much local authorities have reported spending on sexual health services, including testing and treatment, contraception and sexual health advice, and prevention and promotion, each financial year from 2017 to 2023:
Financial Year | Spend |
2017/18 | £572,054,000 |
2018/19 | £555,906,000 |
2019/20 | £539,484,000 |
2020/21 | £507,167,000 |
2021/22 | £530,595,000 |
2022/23 | £546,928,000 |
Source: Data has come from annual published local authority revenue expenditure which is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning comprehensive open access to most sexual health services. It is for individual local authorities to decide their spending priorities based on an assessment of local need, and to commission and evaluate the service lines that best suit their population, including online and in-person provision.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall and Camberwell Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what change there has been in the rate of sexually transmitted infections since 2012.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The total rate of new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) decreased from 844.8 per 100,000 in 2013 to 764.4 per 100,000 in 2017. The rate increased in 2018 and 2019, to 801.7 per 100,000 and 831.9 per 100,000 respectively, before falling in 2020 to 550.8 per 100,000. The rate has been increasing since 2021 and 2022, to 560.7 per 100,000 and 694.2 per 100,000 respectively. A table showing the STI diagnosis numbers and rates in England, each year from 2013 to 2022, is attached.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall and Camberwell Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS sexual health consultants were there in England in (a) 2017 and (b) 2023.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department does not hold information about the total number of staff delivering sexual health services in the National Health Service. However, the table below shows the number of full-time equivalent consultants working in sexual health specialties in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England, as of October 2017 and October 2023:
Specialty | October 2017 | October 2023 |
Consultants Working in Community Sexual and Reproductive Health | 83 | 135 |
Consultants Working in Genito-Urinary Medicine | 268 | 241 |
Source: Data is drawn from the monthly NHS workforce statistics published by NHS England.
Notes: Data excludes staff directly employed by general practitioner surgeries, local authorities, and other providers such as community interest companies and private providers. This is relevant as local authorities are responsible for commissioning most sexual health services and some will be commissioned from bodies outside of NHS trusts, of which the Department holds no staffing information.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall and Camberwell Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff worked in sexual health services in (a) 2017 and (b) 2023.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department does not hold information about the total number of staff delivering sexual health services in the National Health Service. However, the table below shows the number of full-time equivalent consultants working in sexual health specialties in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England, as of October 2017 and October 2023:
Specialty | October 2017 | October 2023 |
Consultants Working in Community Sexual and Reproductive Health | 83 | 135 |
Consultants Working in Genito-Urinary Medicine | 268 | 241 |
Source: Data is drawn from the monthly NHS workforce statistics published by NHS England.
Notes: Data excludes staff directly employed by general practitioner surgeries, local authorities, and other providers such as community interest companies and private providers. This is relevant as local authorities are responsible for commissioning most sexual health services and some will be commissioned from bodies outside of NHS trusts, of which the Department holds no staffing information.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall and Camberwell Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate she has made of when the HIV action plan implementation steering group will publish its PrEP roadmap.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The roadmap to help guide our efforts to improve equitable access, uptake and use of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is now expected to be made available in early 2024.