§ Sandra GidleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when the national chlamydia screening programme will be operational across the country; [61074]
(2) if he will publish the results of the pilot chlamydia-screening programmes in Portsmouth and the Wirral; and if he will make a statement. [61075]
§ Ms BlearsA report on the chlamydia screening pilots in Portsmouth and the Wirral will be published this summer. The pilots showed that this form of screening was acceptable to the target group and the professionals with 75 per cent. uptake among those offered screening and 95 per cent. of those diagnosed returning for treatment.
The national strategy for sexual health and HIV commits to beginning a programme of screening for chlamydia for targeted groups in 2002. The first 10 screening sites are currently being selected, and will be approved shortly. The pace of the roll-out of the programme across the country will depend on the availability of resources, trained staff and equipment, and cannot be precisely predicted at this stage.