Chlamydia campaign asks “Could I have it?”

Western Australia’s young people are being encouraged to get themselves tested for chlamydia, as part of a new health campaign.

The advertising campaign is part of a Department of Health push to curb the increase in chlamydia notification rates.

Department of Health Sexual Health and Blood-borne Virus Program Manager Lisa Bastian said this year’s campaign would encourage young people and their partners to get tested if they’ve had unprotected sex.

“Chlamydia is a serious sexually transmissible infection that can lead to serious long-term health effects,” Ms Bastian said.

“If left untreated it can affect men and women’s reproductive health, leading to difficulties in falling pregnant, ectopic pregnancies and pelvic inflammatory disease in women, as well as infertility in both sexes.”

Ms Bastian said the number of chlamydia cases was on the rise in Western Australia, reflecting a trend seen across Australia and the world.

“Between 1998 and 2010 the number of chlamydia infections reported to the Department of Health increased from 2,067 notifications in 1998, to 10,227 in 2010,” she said.

The campaign has received support from the Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia (YACWA) – Youth Educating Peers Project, who will team up with WA Health to promote it during this year’s Youth Week, run from 2 to 9 April 2011.

“Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted infection in Western Australia and YACWA is happy to support any initiative that helps protect the health of Western Australia’s young people,” YACWA Project Officer Rebecca Walker said.

As part of the campaign GPs will be sent a Partner Notification Resource to urge patients with chlamydia to encourage their partners to be tested.

Testing for chlamydia involves a simple urine test and it can be treated by a single dose of antibiotics.

(Source: Government of Western Australia Department of Health)

More information 

For more information on different types of sexually transmitted infections, prevention of STIs, treatments and effects on fertility, see Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).