Chlamydia & Gonorrhoea screening for Under 25's in Herefordshire
InSITE's Cat Owczarski explains about the new postal screening programme that is accessible to young people and available from us
A new Chlamydia & Gonorrhoea screening programme has been introduced in Herefordshire for all people aged 25 and under. I spoke to Kathy Meaney (Healthcare Trainer) and Andrea Johnson (Area Coordinator) about their involvement in the programme and they told me all about the different ways they are promoting the screening programme.
“ We are arranging screening events at venues where we can target young people between 16 and 25 years of age and these events include pubs, nite clubs, youth clubs, shopping centres and leisure centres ” says Andrea and Kathy
Special packs are available free of charge for people to pick up and do the test themselves and each pack contains a freepost envelope to send it away for testing.
The service is completely confidential (they don’t even tell your GP without your consent) and you can choose to get your results by text, phone, email, post or online. All results are given within 7 days and any treatment needed within 2 weeks. Any treatment you might need is free and healthcare professionals will even help you tell your partner/s if they need to get tested too.
As well as setting up screening events in pubs and nightclubs postal kits are being distributed throughout Herefordshire in places that under 24’s may regularly attend and if you’re not sure who to ask you can always order a kit online at www.chlamydiascreening.nhs.uk
Postal Kits are now available from Youth Times.
If you would like to pick up a testing kit please call 01432 344039,
email info@insitemag.net or just pop in and ask to speak to Cat.
Also Young People can go online and request a postal kit
From: www.b-clear.org.uk
How do I know if I have Chlamydia?
It is thought that 8% of all under 25’s in Herefordshire have Chlamydia and very often there are no symptoms and therefore no way of knowing that you have it without a test. Chlamydia is dangerous if left untreated as it can cause infertility in both males and females. Some people do develop symptoms but often several week or even months after coming into contact with Chlamydia. Symptoms of Chlamydia: pelvic pain pain when passing urine irregular bleeding painful or swollen testicles Chlamydia is not the only sexually transmitted infection you can get from having unprotected sex and if you think you may have another infection it is very important that you go to your local Health clinic, doctor or school nurse and get a test done.
Download the free NHS leaflet about Chlamydia
