In a move to stem the rising rates of STIs, England has become the first nation in the world to implement a national gonorrhoea vaccination programme. From today, sexual health clinics nationwide will start administering the vaccine for free to those who are eligible.
For the unversed, gonorrhoea is a Sexually Transmitted Disease/Infection (STD/I) caused by the Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacterium. The primary causes of this are unprotected vaginal, oral, and anal sex transmit the infection, which affects genitals, the rectum, and throat. If left untreated, this disease may cause serious health issues such as infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, and vulnerability to HIV infection.
The drive, led by the NHS and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), is prompted by gonorrhoea cases hitting record levels. More than 85,000 diagnoses were made in England alone in 2023, triple the number from 2012. Experts highlight resistance to antibiotics as one of the key drivers for the programme's haste, with long-standing treatments such as azithromycin and ceftriaxone losing efficacy against adapting strains of the illness.
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Worldwide, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated that 82.4 million new cases of gonorrhoea occurred in 2020 in adults aged 15 to 49 years. As antibiotic resistance is on the rise, public health authorities are now shifting towards prevention, such as vaccination, to stop the spread of the infection and safeguard long-term health.
Health officials are optimistic that this proactive stance will minimize transmission, restrict complications, and ease pressure on already stressed healthcare services from resistant infections.