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 syphilis diagnoses among heterosexual populations; and what targeted interventions he is (a) planning and (b) implementing.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published a sexually transmitted infection (STI) prioritisation framework in 2024 to inform local prioritisation decisions for the control of STIs, including syphilis. The UKHSA’s STI Prioritisation Framework is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sti-prioritisation-framework

The UKHSA also previously published a Syphilis Action Plan, which is focused on actions to control and prevent syphilis, which include:

• increasing the testing frequency of gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men who are at the greatest risk of syphilis, and increasing the re-testing of syphilis cases after treatment;
• delivering partner notifications to the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV’s standards;
• maintaining high antenatal screening coverage and vigilance for syphilis throughout antenatal care; and
• sustaining targeted health promotion.

The wider population of heterosexual men and women should be offered a full sexual health screen when clinically appropriate, and especially when attending sexual health services. The UKHSA’s Syphilis Action Plan in available at the following link:

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