People all over the country who are aged 17 and older can now avail of a free home STI testing kit following the launch of a new national online service by the HSE Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme (SHCPP).

The kits test for chlamydia, gonorrhea, HIV and syphilis. They can also test for hepatitis B and C but these tests are not always needed.

Anyone who wants to avail of these tests can order a free STI test kit on the online platform, which is then delivered to their home by post. Users complete the tests at home and post the samples to a laboratory in a pre-paid envelope provided. They will then receive their results by text or phone.

Those who require further testing and treatment will be referred to participating public STI clinics.

This new service is most suitable for individuals who do not have symptoms of an STI. Anyone who has symptoms of an STI is advised to attend an STI clinic or their GP for assessment.

The service has already been the subject of a successful pilot project that was developed by the HSCPP, which in its first five months, saw over 13,000 home testing kits being delivered in Dublin, Cork and Kerry.

The pilot ran from January to May 2021 and almost 5,000 kits were ordered in the first 24 hours. Some 8% of the test results were referred to public STI clinics for further care

Following the pilot, from July 2021, the service was continued on a temporary basis and expanded to other counties to improve STI testing capacity in light of ongoing Covid-19 restrictions in public STI clinics and a national syphilis outbreak.

Annual funding of €3 million was secured in Budget 2022 to roll out the service nationally. Following an EU tender procurement process in early 2022, the national contract was awarded to online provider Sexual Health 24 (SH:24) and this commenced on May 1, 2022. The service has now been expanded to all 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland.        

Between January and August of this year, 55,936 STI test kits had been ordered. Of these, 3,516 (10%) produced reactive test results and were referred to public STI clinics for further care.

According to Prof Fiona Lyons, the HSE’s clinical lead for sexual health, this is “an important step towards increasing STI testing access and capacity”.

“It offers greater choice to individuals, promotes self-care and overcomes many barriers to STI testing. Integrating the service with public STI clinics ensures that where necessary, individuals have a seamless pathway to additional care,” she commented.

Meanwhile, according to Maeve O’Brien, interim programme lead for the SHCPP, this service will help to identify undiagnosed infection in our communities and will also “help to normalise STI testing as being an important step in self-managing our overall health and wellbeing”.

For more information or to order a test kit, click here.