Leading sexual health charities – Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), National AIDS Trust and PrEPster – have warned newly appointed Health Secretary Thérèse Coffey MP that sexual health clinics are in crisis with the current monkeypox outbreak displacing other vital services, including testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV prevention and access to contraception.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has announced that second doses of the smallpox (Jynneos) vaccine will be offered to people at highest risk from monkeypox – gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men – in order to maximise protection against the virus.
As of August 10, around 27,000 people have been vaccinated by the NHS and in sexual health services in England, including 25,325 gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.
“It’s high time we got a proper grip on the monkeypox response and for that we need to see this taken seriously at the highest level of Government.”
FAIR steering group, including THT, Stonewall and National AIDS Trust, is still hoping to report its findings before the end of 2020 in spite of the coronavirus pandemic.
