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The National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP)

  • Last modified date:
    4 June 2008
National Chlamydia Screening programme logo

In this section you will find background information on the NCSP.

In November 2005 the day to day management of the programme was transferred to the Health Protection Agency. For more information about the programme visit the NCSP web site at:

Background

Genital chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted infection diagnosed in Genitourinary Medicine (GUM) clinics in England, with high prevalence being documented among young men and women aged under 25 attending a variety of specialist and general health care settings.   Rates of infection have remained high among 20-24 year group in men and 16-19 year olds in women.

Monitoring the uptake of chlamydia screening - Vital Signs indicator 2008/09

A letter was sent to the NHS on 23rd May 2008 from Alan Hall, Director of Performance at DH, stating that from April this year all chlamydia screens/tests undertaken outside of genitourinary medicine clinics on 15-24 year olds will count towards calculating screening coverage in residents of each primary care trust.

Choosing Health White Paper

Tackling the prevalence of chlamydia through the accelerated implementation of the screening programme is one of the key commitments in the Choosing Health White Paper.  This priority and investment gives a clear signal that the Government is committed to the successful implementation of the programme and ensuring that screening young people on an annual basis becomes a routine aspect of sexual health care.

CMO Expert Advisory Group

In England, the case for screening began in earnest in 1998 with the publication of the Chief Medical Officer’s (CMO) Expert Advisory Committee report on Chlamydia trachomatis infection, which outlined the public health importance of this disease and the need to screen high-risk individuals.  The annual cost of chlamydia and its consequences in the United Kingdom was estimated to be more than £100 million.

A World Health Organisation Report (2006 - Policy Brief in Europe) on behalf of the Observatory on Health Systems and Policy, have also acknowledged that the only screening programme that they would consider appropriate in adolescence and early adulthood is the opportunistic programme for Chlamydia.

Pilots

Pilots of opportunistic chlamydia screening were undertaken in Portsmouth and the Wirral (1999-2001), and confirmed the high disease prevalence among those attending health care settings, and the feasibility and acceptability of such screening approaches – with coverage of 50%.

Concrete plans for a National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP) gained momentum with the publication of the English National Strategy for Sexual Health and HIV, in July 2001, which clearly outlined the government’s commitment to a national roll-out of chlamydia screening.

First year of screening

In the first year of screening, chlamydia screening was introduced in 10 programme areas across England, involving over 300 screening sites.  This followed with a further 16 sites and we will have national coverage within England during 2007.

The results of the first year of screening confirmed the feasibility of opportunistic screening outside of GUM clinic settings and the significant disease burden in this population with 10.1% positivity among women and 13.3% among men. These findings were consistent with the pilot studies.

The NCSP drives innovation in practice and technology and is strengthening care pathways between various settings in the community for improvements in sexual health.  Screening levels for the programme have shown that the implementation strategies can work; and a variety of non-specialist clinical settings can be enlisted to implement screening.

The NCSP is a major long term public health programme, with immediate benefit to individuals screened. Without this programme, many of the young people who tested positive and their partners would not necessarily have found out that they had chlamydial infection.

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