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 prevent the emergence of stigma around monkeypox transmission in the UK for (a) LGBT+ communities and (b) communities with close links to African countries where monkeypox is endemic in rodents.

The United Kingdom monkeypox incident currently has a high proportion of cases identifying as gay and bisexual men and men who have sex with men. We are asking these groups to be aware of the symptoms and organisations such as the Terrence Higgins Trust, are working with the UK Health Security Agency to develop specific health communications.

The majority of recently confirmed monkeypox cases in the UK have no travel links to a country where monkeypox is endemic. This has been reflected in information shared with the media, public and other stakeholders. As the nature of this cluster differs from those previously reported in the UK, we are ensuring all communications are updated and more diverse imagery is sourced.