Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted disease which in Sweden is subject to mandatory treatment by law. The current rise in Chlamydia prevalence is of major concern for the health authorities and ways to increase the total number of tests as well as the number of tests from men are highly appreciated. The project is a research study with financial support from the Swedish National Institute of Public Health aiming at facilitating the Chlamydia testing and also find reasons for an increased risk of acquiring a Chlamydia infection. The counties of Västra götaland, Västerbotten and Sörmland have been used to test the method. All citizens in the counties can access the website klamydia.se and e-order a kit for testing the infection. The result of the test can be obtained by the participant by entering a personal code on the site. Testing for sexually transmitted diseases can be more or less embarrassing. This service allows people who are reluctant of visiting healthcare institutions to get tested. Disabled people or people living in remote areas can save both time and money by using this web based facility.
Description of target users and groups
Our target group is all citizens at risk for a Chlamydia infection. As the infection causes infertility the service mostly addresses people of fertile age, i.e. from teenagers to fifty years old.
Description of the way to implement the initiative
The project is the result of a collaboration mainly between the Institutions for Public Health and Clinical Medicine at Umeå university and the unit for Virology, the institution for Clinical Microbiology, Umeå university. The project started in September 2004 and work is in progess to put the project in permanent operation. The county councils have Committees for Public Health with a responsibility to improve people’s health and work against the spreading of communicable diseases like Chlamydia trachomatis.
Main results, benefits and impacts
More than 10,000 tests have been performed and 7% of them have been positive for a Chlamydia infection. The site has around 6,000 hits per day. In regular testing the percentage of men is low (25%), but at klaymdia.se it is 50%. An evaluation done by the department of Social Work, University of Gothenburg, Sweden states that chlamydia testing using klamydia.se has the great advantage of reaching as many men as women. In interviews with young people they expressed that by using the net “they did not have to answer questions, sit and wait among other people and it was a lot easier than going to a clinic. Many are shy and for them would net-testing be better.†They also pointed out that their generation was familiar with using the Internet. Most tests are made among the 20-24 years old but we have found that people over the age of 30 also use the site and these people are Chlamydia-positive in an alarmingly high degree, (18%). The cost for managing testing in an out-patient clinic is about 100 euros per tested person as compared to this Internet based testing where the cost is about 20 euros per test. The laboratory cost is not included as it is the same in both cases.
Return on investment
Return on investment: Not applicable / Not availableTrack record of sharing
The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions has initiated the building of a national web site (Vården på Webben) open for all Swedish citizens where one option should be to order a Chlamydia test. We are collaborating with the Danish Family Planning Association (Sex & Samfund) for testing of Chlamydia in the Danish capital Copenhagen and contacts have been taken with the Robert Koch Institute I Berlin.
Lessons learnt
Lesson 1 - Using e-services can facilitate contact between the health care sector and the citizens. Lesson 2 - E-service is a way to reach the younger generation, especially young men. Lesson 3 - E-service can substantially reduce the cost of Chlamydia testing.
Scope: Local (city or municipality), Regional (sub-national)