by Louise Doyle
ALMOST 6,500 free Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) home testing kits were dispatched to CH CDLMS, which includes Donegal, in 2023.
Figures provided to the Donegal News by the HSE show 6,486 test kits were sent to Community Healthcare, Cavan Donegal Leitrim Monaghan Sligo (CH CDLMS), formerly CHO1, between January and December 2023.
Up to 10,000 free home STI testing kits are being ordered from the HSE each month, according to new figures.
Minister of State for Public Health Hildegarde Naughton said the HSE received more than 100,000 orders for the kits between January 2023 and end of November.
Just over 91,000 were ordered in 2022.
The HSE service provides individuals aged 17 and older with the option to test for STIs discreetly at home. Those with a reactive result, which indicates the need for additional investigation or treatment, are then referred to participating public STI clinics.
Since November 2023, anyone who tests positive for Chlamydia has the option of getting an online prescription, reducing the number of referrals to STI clinics.
The Department of Health said availability of the national home STI testing service has “increased access to testing, removing potential barriers such as embarrassment, cost and time needed to travel to and attend a face-to-face service” and that it reaching individuals who may not have attended an in-person service.
Of those who ordered the kits in 2022, more than half (56 per cent) said they had never visited a sexual health clinic previously, while 42 per cent of those who used the kits last year reported that they had never taken an STI test before.
Ms Naughton said she was pleased with the access provided by the service, saying it allowed for “increased opportunities for diagnosis and treatment which is particularly important in the context of rising STI rates, both nationally and internationally”.
She said: “The service illustrates the Government’s prioritisation of sexual health and well being, and we have been making great progress implementing delivering and expanding additional services that support everyone’s sexual health; including through the free contraception scheme and the National Condom Distribution Service.”
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