Pub-goers offered Chlamydia tests in bid to reduce numbers of disease
Going to the pub just got a whole lot safer after a trial initiative to offer pub and club-goers Chlamydia home test kits, to encourage more under-25s to be tested for the sexually transmitted disease (STD).
The test kits are being offered in three London areas – Ealing, Southall and Greenford and if the trial is thought to be a success, the plan will be rolled out across the UK.
The tests are available in dispensers in pub loos and contain a leaflet about Chlamydia, along with a urine sample pot, a form to fill in personal details and a freepost envelope to send off your sample to be tested.
In a bid to preserve people's identity or embarrassment about the test, there is then the option to hear your results by letter, text or by visiting a GP in person.
Chylamdia is the most commonly diagnosed STD in the UK with one in ten people testing positive. The worst thing about the disease? It can go unnoticed. According to statistics 50% of men and 70% of women who have the infection suffer no symptoms at all.
Debbie Green, head of the screening programme explained that the disease is highest in under-25s. 'You may not know you have it, and it's not until it has spread further up from the genital tract, up into the body, that it can do the damage and cause infertility.'
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