Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the risk to public health of drug resistant gonorrhoea.

Drug resistance in gonorrhoea increases the likelihood of treatment failure and ongoing transmission. There have been three documented treatment failures in England reported to date and all were eventually cured successfully. Public Health England (PHE) undertakes comprehensive surveillance through the gonococcal resistance to antimicrobials surveillance programme to enable early detection and management of antibiotic resistance in gonorrhoea. It uses this intelligence to advise on national gonorrhoea treatment guidelines ensuring they remain effective. PHE also investigates outbreaks and individual cases of extensively drug resistant gonorrhoea and potential treatment failures to ensure effective management and control spread. Further information can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gonococcal-resistance-to-antimicrobials-surveillance-programme-grasp-report