Changes to the National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP)
Published 24 June 2021
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The National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP) is changing to focus on reducing reproductive harm of untreated infection in young women.
Opportunistic screening (that is the proactive offer of a chlamydia test to young people without symptoms) should focus on women*, combined with:
- reducing time to test results and treatment
- strengthening partner notification
- re-testing after treatment
In practice this means that chlamydia screening in community settings, such as GPs and pharmacies, will only be proactively offered to young women. Services provided by sexual health services remain unchanged.
Everyone can still get tested if they need, but men will not be proactively offered a test unless an indication has been identified, such as being a partner of someone with chlamydia or having symptoms.
*References to women throughout this document includes cisgender women, transgender men and non-binary (assigned female at birth) people who have not had hysterectomy or bilateral oophorectomy.
Background
The NCSP was first introduced in 2003 with the aim of preventing onward transmission and the harms of chlamydia though early detection and treatment. Since that time understanding of chlamydia infection and how best to control it has developed.
To ensure the design, implementation and evaluation of the NCSP is based on best available evidence Public Health England (PHE) convened a review of the evidence by national and international experts and consulted with stakeholders and public (including focus groups with young people) on the recommended way forward. This process is referred to as the ‘English NCSP Evidence Review’.
As a result, the aim of the NCSP is changing to focus on reducing the harms from untreated chlamydia infection. The harmful effects of chlamydia occur predominantly in women so the opportunistic offer of asymptomatic chlamydia screening outside of sexual health services will focus on women, combined with reducing time to test results and treatment, strengthening partner notification and retesting. These changes will mean the programme will be better able to maximise the health benefits.
This change will bring the NCSP in line with the assessment by the English NCSP Evidence Review of the best available evidence. This assessment found the evidence that chlamydia leads to significant harm to reproductive health and that opportunistic screening of women can effectively reduce these harms to be robust.
This change removes the offer of opportunistic chlamydia screening to asymptomatic men outside sexual health services only and does not change the STI testing services offered by sexual health services. All young people will still be able to access chlamydia tests at sexual health services and young men will continue to be contacted and tested through partner notification procedures.
We will work with partners to improve the early and asymptomatic diagnosis of chlamydia in women and to ensure all those diagnosed with chlamydia are treated promptly and retested.
Opportunistic screening for chlamydia is one part of a wide range of sexual health interventions. Work on a new Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy for England is underway, led by Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). This Strategy will consider the full range of interventions including sexual health promotion for young people.
See the NCSP consultation and NCSP programme overview for more information.