In 2001 the NHS launched a ten year Sexual Health Strategy, with the plan to have reduced chlamydia by 35%, raised sexual awareness, and improved access to GUM clinics by the time of its completion in 2011. With one year left to go, it is certainly evident that the wheels are in motion. Home chlamydia testing kits are now available for free at most health practises in Hull, and can even be ordered online and sent by post, used in the privacy of your own home, and then either posted back, or dropped off at the doctor’s for analysis. These kits are not, however, being distributed at our university.
A spokesperson from the National Chlamdyia Screening Programme (NCSP), part of the NHS’s Sexual Health Stategy, states that: “Chlamydia testing in education settings has a role to play in the Programme if aligned to on-site Sexual Health Services.” So this begs the question: why isn’t the University of Hull involved with this scheme, and what effort are we making to become aligned with the sexual health services mentioned?
Alice Poppy Marshall, current VP Welfare of the union says: “We are currently dispensing Chlamydia kits up in Scarborough and I’m trying to find the right location to dispense them from in Hull.
“The reason we don’t have kits in Hull yet is because they wanted to put them in the toilets but we were worried they would get stolen by drunk people, so we are trying to get a new dispenser designed that only lets you take one at a time rather than being a bucket you help yourself from.”
But with students being a high-risk group for chlamydia, an asymptomatic sexually transmitted disease which affects 1 in 12 people under 25 years old, it would seem that action is more necessary than deliberation. So what is our union currently doing to try and tackle sexual health issues?
“I have set up a volunteering project with Conifer House so that students can get trained up to help promote awareness of chlamydia amongst students and be involved in the screenings they run. They come to Asylum on a fairly regular basis. We have a sexual health kiosk on the first floor where people can get free tests and condoms at any time as long as they have signed up to it. Sign-up is currently only done in town,” explains Alice. Clearly the union still have a long way to go before they can bring sexual health screening to our doorsteps. A trip to Conifer House, in the city centre, is currently the only way students can access full screening, but there are plans for change: “we are hoping that we will be able to sign people up in the advice centre in the future,
“It’s a bit harder for us to offer tests for other things here because most of them require blood tests. I’m trying to sort that out for SHAG week but its a bit harder health and safety-wise,” Alice says.
Suzie Morris, the newly-elected VP Welfare for next year says: “we will look at where [Alice] thinks improvements can be made during the next year and look at what worked particularly well, and achievements that can be continued. [Alice] already said to me that doing things a second time round would make things so much more successful, as you learn from what didn’t work as well as hoped for the first time round.”
It is clearly difficult to integrate screenings onto campus, as traditionally this was only available in GUM clinics and specialist sexual health services. However, with the increasing screening options available from the NHS, testing for at least chlamydia within the union should soon become possible. This could work greatly in Suzie’s favour if she plans to implement sexual screening on campus next year. She tells Hullfire: “I don’t know too much about the National Chlamydia Screening initiative, but it’s definitely worth looking into so we can see what possibilities are around, as anything that can improve the sexual health and awareness of the students is always worthwhile.”
Natalie Lyall-Grant
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