Advertisement

Thousands of Swedes order home chlamydia tests

TT/The Local
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Thousands of Swedes order home chlamydia tests

Tests for the sexually transmitted disease, which are available for order over the internet, have proven extremely popular in Sweden.

Advertisement

So far nearly 30,000 tests have been carried out across the country.

What’s more, the home tests have been enticing new groups of people—especially more boys and men—to test themselves for the disease.

A record number of Swedes have been infected with chlamydia.

Since the start of the year more than 24,000 people have been diagnosed, with the majority being young people between the ages of 15 and 27.

To simplify testing for the disease, several county councils have been offering chlamydia tests over the internet.

Tests are home delivered through special websites, after which users can send the results in to a laboratory for analysis.

A few days later, the coded test results are made available and can be read online from a home computer.

As a result, caregivers reach a segment of the population that they might not otherwise have reached.

In Västra Götaland County, which has offered the tests online since 2006, more than 15,000 residents have tested themselves.

“It started tentatively, but now we’re seeing a successful increase. A big advantage is that we getting more gender balance—men have begun to approach women in terms of the number of tests [they have ordered],” said Peter Nolskog, an infectious diseases specialist with the Västra Götaland county council.

The fact that the internet is always open and that people can remain anonymous has attracted many, believed Nolskog.

The test have also been popular in Södermanland.

“We started in January and it’s increasing from month to month,” said infectious disease doctor Carl-Gustaf Sundin.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also