World-first gonorrhoea vaccine rolled out across UK amid record levels of infection
The initiative comes after cases of the sexually transmitted infection (STI) in England reached a record 85,000 in 2023, the highest since records began in 1918.
Available free of charge from Monday at sexual health clinics, the jab is being offered to those at highest risk.
This includes gay and bisexual men with a recent history of multiple sexual partners or a bacterial STI.
The vaccine, an existing jab known as 4CMenB, is currently used to protect against meningococcal B disease, which can cause meningitis and sepsis.
It is used in the routine childhood programme and given to babies at eight weeks, 16 weeks and one year.
Officials anticipate the programme will save the NHS £7.9 million over the next decade.
The programme could prevent up to 100,000 cases of gonorrhoea, according to doctors.
The STI disproportionately impacts specific communities, such as those in deprived areas, people of black Caribbean ethnicity, and gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, according to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
Patients getting the gonorrhoea vaccine will also be offered jabs for mpox, human papillomavirus (HPV), and hepatitis A and B at their appointment.
'Rolling out this world-leading gonorrhoea vaccination programme in sexual health clinics in England represents a major breakthrough in preventing an infection that has reached record levels,' Ashley Dalton, the minister for public health and prevention, said.
'This government's world-first vaccination programme will help turn the tide on infections, as well as tackling head-on the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.
'I strongly encourage anyone who is eligible to come forward for vaccination, to protect not only yourselves but also your sexual partners.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
One in five NHS doctors considering leaving UK profession, report warns
The Government's pledge to cut hospital waiting lists is at risk unless more is done to retain doctors in the NHS, the medical regulator has warned. Almost one in five (19%) of doctors are considering quitting being a doctor in the UK, the General Medical Council (GMC) said. And one in eight (12%) are considering leaving the UK to work abroad, according to GMC figures. The main reason given for considering a move abroad was that doctors are 'treated better' in other countries, with an increase in pay cited as the second most common reason for plans to emigrate. Overall, some 43% of doctors told the GMC that they had researched career opportunities in other countries. Some 15% of doctors reported they had taken 'hard steps' towards leaving UK practice – such as applying for roles overseas or contacting recruiters. 'We must be alive to the ongoing risks to retention of doctors and the impact of losing talented staff,' the authors of the GMC's latest report wrote. 'This could threaten Government ambitions to reduce waiting times and deliver better care to patients.' Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has pledged that, by July 2029, 92% of patients will be seen within 18 weeks for routine hospital treatment such as hip and knee replacements. The GMC's latest report also raised concerns about career progression for medics. The report highlighted that 8% of doctors who felt they could progress their career said they were likely to leave the UK medical profession and had taken hard steps towards doing so, compared with 27% of those who did not feel this way. Overall one in three doctors said they are unable to progress their education, training and careers in the way they want, according to the report, which is based on responses from 4,697 doctors around the UK. It found that those who did not feel as though their careers were progressing the way they would wish were at higher risk of burnout and were less satisfied with their work. The GMC said that workloads, competition for posts, and lack of senior support for development are adversely impacting career hopes for UK doctors. Charlie Massey, chief executive of the GMC, said: 'Like any profession, doctors who are disillusioned with their careers will start looking elsewhere. 'Doctors need to be satisfied, supported, and see a hopeful future for themselves, or we may risk losing their talent and expertise altogether. 'Achieving this requires modernising the current training system, so it meets the needs of doctors and patients.' It comes as Health Secretary Wes Streeting and the British Medical Association are locked in talks to avert further strike action by resident doctors after a five-day walkout in July. Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, are in a dispute with the Government over pay and a lack of places for doctors in training. Commenting on the GMC report, Billy Palmer, senior fellow at the Nuffield Trust think tank, said: 'Pay and industrial action have been a lightning rod for dissatisfaction among doctors but this survey puts a spotlight on the wider difficulties facing the medical profession. 'Job guarantees, better rotas and placements, and protection of training time all need to be on the table. 'Addressing the burden of medical graduates' student debt by gradually writing off loans could also be a promising way to reward doctors' NHS service. With fewer than three in five doctors in 'core training' remaining in the NHS eight years later, unless warnings from this survey are dealt with, we'll continue to lose these skilled clinicians.' A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'The findings in this report are further evidence of what we know, that after more than a decade of neglect, doctors have legitimate complaints about their conditions, including issues with training bottlenecks and career progression. 'We want to work with them to address these and improve their working lives, which includes our plans set out in the 10 Year Health Plan to prioritise UK graduates and increase speciality training posts. 'This Government is committed to improving career opportunities and working conditions, bringing in ways to recognise and reward talent – as well as freeing up clinicians' time by cutting red tape.'
The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Warning of NHS staffing crisis as fifth of doctors tempted to move abroad
Sir Keir Starmer's pledge to cut hospital waiting lists is at risk unless more is done to retain doctors, as one in five consider leaving the UK to work abroad, the medical regulator has warned. The General Medical Council (GMC) said 19 per cent of doctors are considering the move – with claims doctors are 'treated better' in other countries given as the main reason. Better pay was the second most common reason for plans to emigrate. The news comes as the government faces ongoing strike action from resident doctors over its refusal to give in to their demands for a 29 per cent salary increase. According to the GMC, 43 per cent of doctors surveyed said they had researched career opportunities in other countries, and 15 per cent had taken 'hard steps' towards working outside the UK – such as applying for roles overseas or contacting recruiters. Sir Keir has pledged that 92 per cent of patients will be seen within 18 weeks for routine hospital treatment such as hip and knee replacements by July 2029 – a vow the GMC said could now be under threat. 'We must be alive to the ongoing risks to retention of doctors and the impact of losing talented staff,' the authors of the GMC's latest report warned. 'This could threaten government ambitions to reduce waiting times and deliver better care to patients.' The newly agreed salary for doctors on foundation training in England is between £38,831 and £44,439, with specialist training salaries rising to £73,992. That includes the 5.4 per cent increase awarded earlier this year, but does not include London weighting. The average salary for a general practitioner is £84,000, according to NHS data, while specialists such as radiotherapists can earn up to £350,000. By comparison, resident doctors in the US are paid on average between £51,000 and £86,000, according to Glassdoor, but some surgeons can earn upwards of £500,000 a year. Average salaries for doctors in Canada sit around £122,000, with peak pay at £236,000. In Australia, recruitment agency Medrecruit said resident medical officers, who are the equivalent of foundation year two doctors in the UK, earn between £31,748 to £46,402, while more senior doctors can earn between £58,400 and £77,800. The GMC's latest report, based on responses from 4,697 doctors, also raised concerns about career progression for medics in the UK. Overall, one in three doctors said they are unable to progress their education, training and careers in the way they want. It found that those who felt this way were at higher risk of burnout and were less satisfied with their work, while 8 per cent of doctors who felt they could not progress their career in the UK were likely to look for work overseas. The BMA has already raised concerns with ministers over the number of resident doctors unable to get specialist training jobs, with 30,000 doctors applying for around 10,000 posts each year. Charlie Massey, chief executive of the GMC, said: 'Like any profession, doctors who are disillusioned with their careers will start looking elsewhere. Doctors need to be satisfied, supported, and see a hopeful future for themselves, or we may risk losing their talent and expertise altogether. 'Achieving this requires modernising the current training system, so it meets the needs of doctors and patients.' It comes as Health Secretary Wes Streeting and the BMA remain locked in talks to avert further strike action. Following a meeting on Wednesday, BMA resident doctors' committee co-chairs, Dr Ross Nieuwoudt and Dr Melissa Ryan said 'we feel that we have achieved a greater mutual understanding than in previous talks' and they had agreed on a window for further negotiations this month. Commenting on the GMC report, Billy Palmer, senior fellow at the Nuffield Trust think tank, said the survey shone a spotlight on the wider difficulties facing the medical profession. 'Job guarantees, better rotas and placements, and protection of training time all need to be on the table. 'Addressing the burden of medical graduates' student debt by gradually writing off loans could also be a promising way to reward doctors' NHS service. With fewer than three in five doctors in 'core training' remaining in the NHS eight years later, unless warnings from this survey are dealt with, we'll continue to lose these skilled clinicians.'
The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Why walking further and faster could cut your risk of heart attack and stroke
Walking further and faster could reduce the risk of heart attacks by almost a fifth – even if you don't reach the recommended target of 10,000 steps a day, a study has found. Analysis of more than 36,000 people with high blood pressure revealed walking more reduces the risk of major problems in the heart and blood vessels. The study published in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology found that compared to a daily step count of 2,300 steps, every extra 1,000 steps was linked to a 17 per cent reduction in the risk of cardiovascular problems. This was the case up to a step count of 10,000 – walking more than this was associated with a lower risk of stroke. It's estimated that just over a quarter adults in the UK, around 14.4 million people, have high blood pressure, according to the British Heart Foundation. It increases the risk of heart disease, heart attacks, strokes and heart failure, according to the NHS. However, study authors say until now it has been unclear how much people with high blood pressure need to increase their physical activity to see a reduction in these risks. Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, at the University of Sydney, Australia, who supervised the study, said: 'We found that, if you live with high blood pressure, the more you walk with greater intensity, the lower your risk for future serious cardiovascular events. 'These findings support the message that any amount of physical activity is beneficial, even below the widely recommended daily target of 10,000 steps.' Researchers analysed data from 32,192 people with high blood pressure who were part of the UK Biobank study – a cohort study of 500,000 people that collected data on diet, lifestyle, biomarkers, and health. As part of the study these participants agreed to wear an accelerometer on their wrist for seven consecutive days to measure how far and how fast they walked. The participants were followed up for eight years and during this time there were 1,935 cases of heart problems of stroke. After analysing this data researchers discovered for every 1,000 steps a day there was a 17 per cent reduction in overall risk, 22 per cent reduction in heart failure, 9 per cent reduction in risk of heart attack, and 24 per cent reduction in risk of stroke. Researchers also tracked how fast participants walked a day and recorded their fastest 30 minutes at an average of 80 steps a minute which was associated with a 30 per cent reduced risk of heart problems. However, it's not just people with high blood pressure that could benefit. Researchers also found similar results when they looked at 37,350 people without high blood pressure. Every 1,000-step increase in daily step count led to an average lower risk of overall heart problems (20.2 per cent), heart failure (23.2 per cent), myocardial infarctions (17.9 per cent) and stroke (24.6 per cent). Professor Stamatakis said: 'Clinicians should promote physical activity as standard care, especially in patients with high blood pressure. Our results can inform new, tailored public health recommendations for these patients.'
