Men are to be urged to be tested for chlamydia, the commonest sexually transmitted disease.
Last year men made up only a fifth of the 150,000 people under 25 who were tested. Women are much more likely to take part in the voluntary screening, and publicity has focused on the risks chlamydia infection can pose to female fertility.
But men can also be infected, and can pass on the infection to their partners. The infection can cause pain in the testicles and there is evidence that it may also damage male fertility.
People are not called in to be screened for chlamydia - as is the case with breast and cervical screening. Nor is it always done in a GP surgery. Screening services will be provided at appropriate places, such as university freshers’ fairs.
About one in ten test results is positive, and the infection can be treated with antibiotics.
At today’s conference of the National Chlamydia Screening Programme a strategy to attract more men is to be launched.
Dr Mary Macintosh, director of the programme, said: “We have to increase awareness among men. They are as likely to get it as women, but they are not always as good at looking after themselves.
“We also have to reassure men that the test is really simple, not at all difficult. It’s just a urine sample.”
Home test kits will be made available over the internet, and the website www.chlamydiascreen.nhs.uk will contain information about the infection as well as a “postcode finder” to locate screening venues.
Genevieve Clark, director of communications at the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “Our research found that 1 in 10 men think chlamydia is a flower, so it’s no surprise that too few of them are going for a test.
“We’re delighted with this focus on young men, who may not realise that their health can be affected by chlamydia.”
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