Information for action – the real-world application of STI surveillance and research data to inform new vaccination programmes

Description of impact

The UK Health Security Agency used high-quality data collected through its (1)
GUMCAD Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) surveillance system and (2) Reducing
Inequalities in Sexual Health (RiiSH) community survey of gay, bisexual and other
men who have sex with men to inform national vaccination recommendations for
gonorrhoea and mpox by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation
(JCVI).
The record number of gonorrhoea diagnoses reported by UKHSA in 2023 was the
catalyst for JCVI’s consideration of a gonorrhoea vaccination programme which, if
approved by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), would be a worldfirst; GUMCAD data were used as essential parameters for the gonorrhoea costeffectiveness model used to inform JCVI’s advice. Similarly, RiiSH data were used in
the mpox cost-effectiveness model including risk stratification, service utilisation and
health-related quality of life. To inform national clinical management guidelines,
RiiSH data were used to assess the intention to be vaccinated for gonorrhoea and
use doxycycline pre-exposure prophylaxis (doxyPEP), another novel biomedical
preventative intervention for bacterial STIs, across multiple domains of inequality.

Category of impact	Public policy impacts, Health impacts, Economic impacts