Three leading charities have come together to warn the newly appointed Health Secretary, Thérèse Coffey MP, that dealing with monkeypox needs to be a top priority.
The current outbreak has thrown a number of clinics into crisis, with many vital services – such as HIV prevention and contraception access – displaced by the need to deal with the virus.
In some cases, this has resulted in a 90% reduction in access to PrEP and long-acting reversible contraception, according to the British Association for Sexual Health & HIV.
Sexual health experts at Terrence Higgins Trust, National AIDS Trust and PrEPster have now come together to tell the government that getting this under control would be instrumental in avoiding an increase in STIs, unwanted pregnancies and people contracting HIV.