Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the rising incidence of (a) syphilis and (b) gonorrhoea.

In June 2019, Public Health England (PHE) published a Syphilis Action Plan, to improve detection, surveillance and clinical management at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/syphilis-public-health-england-action-plan

To reduce the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including gonorrhoea and syphilis, PHE launched the ‘Protect Against STIs’ health promotion campaign in 2017/18 to promote condom use and positive sexual relationships among 16 to 24-year olds. This campaign can be viewed at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/protect-against-stis-use-a-condom/home

Additionally, HIV Prevention England has been contracted to deliver a HIV prevention programme aimed at men who have sex with men, black Africans and other groups in whom there is a higher or emerging burden of infection. This programme promotes, among other behaviours, condom use and awareness of STIs including gonorrhoea and syphilis. More information on this programme can be found at the following link:

http://www.hivpreventionengland.org.uk/