The Government has come under fierce attack by the Public Accounts Committee in the UK Parliament for the way that the execution of the national Chlamydia screening programme has been carried out in England. Detection rates have not reached the levels set down by the Government and as a result there appears to be no demonstrable reduction in infection rates. This latest criticism follows an earlier report by the National Audit Office, which slammed the programme as a waste of public funds.
Chlamydia is known as the silent infection as it can cause little or no symptoms but can cause serious health complications, including infertility, if left untreated. In 2008 there were 210,000 diagnoses of Chlamydia in the UK. Although testing rates have been pushed up to 16% in the year 2008-09 from 5% in the previous year, experts warn that this is nowhere near the level that it needs to be to halt the rise in infection rates.
Chlamydia is easily detected and very easily treated with antibiotics such as Azithromycin or Doxycycline but there is resistance to getting tested as people think that this is an issue that does not affect them. Most people assume that if they do not have any symptoms then they cannot possibly have a sexually transmitted infection but this is simply not the case.
Getting tested could not be easier these days. Even if you do not have time to go to your local GUM clinic there is a free postal service available in some Primary Care Trust areas for people under 25. If you do not qualify for free testing then there are a number of private clinics in the UK that provide a highly reliable laboratory screening service by post for very reasonable costs. We normally recommend The STI Clinic as they have a 24 hour results service and they pay for your treatment if you test positive for anything. Do yourself a favour – get tested just to be sure.