The sex health MOT for older daters...by post

THE first free postal sexual-health ‘MOT’ aimed at the rising number of older people with sexually transmitted infections has been launched.

Health chiefs hope the new initiative will help stem the growing numbers of middle-aged and older people at high risk of STIs by allowing them to take a test in their own home, without having to visit a GP or face a lengthy, and sometimes embarrassing, wait at a sexual-health clinic.

A similar service, which provides test kits by post and gives results via text or email, is already being used by the NHS for teenagers and young adults.

Patients make an online request for the kit, which tests for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and HIV. It is posted out in a plain envelope. They take the test, return the kit and receive their results by text message within seven days.

The new service, called SH:24, is only available now to NHS patients in Lambeth and Southwark in London, which have some of the highest STI rates in the country. But there are plans to roll out the service across the country over the next year.

Nationwide figures from Public Health England reveal that 1,139 over-65s were diagnosed with a new STI in England last year, up from 854 in 2012.

And 27,540 people aged 45 to 64 were diagnosed in 2014, up from 25,764 in 2012.

Gillian Holdsworth, a consultant in public health medicine and programme director for SH:24, said: ‘The profile of people with sexually transmitted infections has changed in recent years. Older people may think they no longer need to use protection but they are still at risk.

‘We also know many people who want or need a test don’t get tested for a number of reasons – inconvenience, embarrassment about going to a clinic, or not realising they’re at risk.

‘SH:24 is available 24 hours a day, with confidentiality and results by text within a week guaranteed.’

In women, gonorrhoea can cause pelvic inflammatory disease. If they are pregnant it can cause miscarriage and premature labour.

Chlamydia can lead to infertility if left untreated while syphilis, if left untreated, can cause stroke, paralysis, blindness and even death.

At-home tests are available privately but can cost upwards of £100.

The SH:24 service was set up by a team of public health and sexual-health professionals and academics and has distributed more than 5,500 kits since trials began last November.

Patients fill out an online form and are sent a kit consisting of a blood, urine or swab test. The test is then processed in a laboratory.

Most people will receive their results by text along with details of where to get further treatment if needed. Those who test positive for HIV will receive a call from a clinician.

The move has been welcomed by health charity the FPA, formerly the Family Planning Association, which has campaigned for greater awareness of STIs among older people.

Chief executive Natika Halil says: ‘Sexual-health services are in the main aimed at under-25s, but it’s not just young people who are having sex. Ultimately this is a health issue and there is a danger that the needs of older people are being ignored.

‘Divorce and dating in later life means people are having sex with new partners, yet older people may still associate contraception with pregnancy and don’t see why they need to be careful because that risk is no longer there.’