Liverpool’s largest continuously running LGBTQ+ health and wellbeing charity has voiced its concerns amid the monkeypox outbreak.
Sahir House, which has been offering HIV support, prevention, information and training across Merseyside since 1985, claims “swift action is needed to prevent Monkeypox from becoming endemic in the UK.”
Monkeypox is a rare infection which is mainly spread by wild animals in parts of west or central Africa. The risk of catching it in the UK tends to be low, however, as of Thursday, June 14, the total number of cases reported by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has risen to 1,856.
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Modelling of the current outbreak warns cases are doubling every 15 days and already many sexual health services are reporting reductions in other services because of the additional burden of monkeypox. With this in mind, Ant Hopkinson, Sahir House’s CEO, said: “In general, it's difficult to keep up with a new virus and ramp up additional testing, vaccination and wrap-around support rapidly.
"To turn the tide against the outbreak we do need more funding and fast. I would hope to see much of this quickly filter its way down to local charities and agencies delivering front-line prevention and support services. Currently, our region has very few vaccines available - nowhere near enough to cover those deemed eligible and a priority under the UK Health Security Agency’s vaccination strategy.
"Should this tip over into a full-blown public health crisis, we need well-resourced hyper-local plans to support people who already face multiple barriers to engaging with healthcare provisions - such as LGBTQ people who continue to experience major disparities in sexual health care and worse health outcomes than the UK population overall.”
Gay men, bisexual men or men who have sex with other men, in particular, have been urged to pay extra attention to the symptoms of the virus as the UKHSA claims “the majority of the cases” identified to date have been among this group. Last week, a group of sexual health experts sent their worries in a joint statement to Steve Barclay, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Amanda Pritchard, CEO of NHS England, and Jenny Harries, CEO of the UK Health Security Agency.
The organisations, which included the British Association of Sexual Health & HIV (BASHH), Terrence Higgins Trust, and National AIDS Trust, asked for the targeted vaccine programme for gay and bisexual men to be looked at sooner rather than later. They also called for £51m from the Department of Health and Social Care to “control the outbreak, optimise monkeypox care, protect the wider service delivery of sexual health services and to support people who are required to isolate because of monkeypox.”
Early symptoms of Monkeypox include high temperature, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen glands, shivering and exhaustion, with a rash usually appearing up to five days after the first symptoms. Monkeypox rarely passes between people but can be passed on via close person-to-person contact or contact with items used by a person who has the virus, such as clothes, bedding or utensils.
It can be treated with the smallpox vaccine along with antiviral drugs. The BASHH estimates it will cost £62.63 to deliver two vaccine doses, with a further estimation of 125,000 people being eligible to receive the dosages 28 days apart.
While the latest data from the UKHSA shows gay and bisexual men make up the vast majority of monkeypox cases, the inaction risks transmission to wider groups including those more vulnerable to the infection, for example, young children, older people and those who are pregnant.
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Ant Hopkinson added: “It's crucial that trusted local organisations such as Sahir House, who have an authentic voice and have always supported the LGBTQ+ community, continue to be placed at the centre of continuing responses to the outbreak. Locally, those delivering sexual health services are doing a great job under immense pressure. But, the need to focus on Monkeypox control does risk taking too much focus away from core sexual health services including delivering STI testing, emergency contraception, unplanned pregnancy information and support, and access to PrEP.”
“One of my overriding concerns remains the framing of communication on Monkeypox. It’s so important that we avoid creating panic or triggering stigmatisation. Any rhetoric that states or implies that Monkeypox is a ‘gay’ disease is incredibly dangerous. We need to remember that viruses do not discriminate but people do.
"We of course want to warn gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men that they are currently at higher risk for exposure to the virus but at the same time, we don’t want homophobes to exploit the situation to sow bigotry. We also don’t want individuals who aren't open about their sexual orientation to avoid testing and treatment in case they are ‘outed’ via association with a ‘gay’ health matter and we don’t want heterosexual people to become complacent and think this doesn’t concern them.”
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Experts warn Monkeypox could become endemic if urgent action not taken
