Thursday, 24. November 2011 13:44
GMFA and Gaydar are currently piloting a major UK-wide scheme to help gay men diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection (STI) to notify their recent sexual partners. The Sexual Health Messaging Service or SHMS has been developed in collaboration with GU clinics and Gaydar. The service is funded by the Elton John AIDS Foundation and aims to reduce the number of men with undiagnosed STIs, including HIV. Men who are diagnosed with an STI can notify previous sexual partners via an online system, so their partners can get tested and, if necessary, treated.
How it works – for more information visit: www.gmfa.org.uk/shms
When someone is diagnosed with an STI in a clinic he will be advised by a health adviser to notify his recent sexual partners. If he would like some help to do this, he can use GMFA’s Sexual Health Messaging Service. Using a PIN number provided to him by his clinic, a diagnosed patient can go to the Sexual Health Messaging Service website and enter the profile names, email addresses and mobile numbers of the partners that need to be notified and hit the send button. The SHMS then sends notifications to all listed partners.
We don’t want anyone to use the service unless they have been diagnosed with an STI by a clinic, so patients will only be able to access the site if they are given special login details by a clinic. This service will initially be piloted at seven clinics in England, who will refer patients to the new service. After that the service will be expanded, first to the whole of London, then to the rest of the UK.
We know that most guys would rather be spoken to directly by a recent partner if that partner is diagnosed with an STI, but we also know that it can be an uncomfortable thing to do. The Sexual Health Messaging Service is there for men who find speaking to a recent partner too uncomfortable or simply aren’t sure what to say.
If you are sexually active and have a profile on Gaydar, then a notification will be sent to your profile at some point in the future. However, you will only be able to receive a notification sent to Gaydar if you have given your permission. Look out for this notification on the 28rd of November 2011 – we hope you will say ‘YES!’
Privacy
We have worked very hard to make sure we protect the privacy of people using and messaged by this new service. We only hold on to the contact details of partners for as long as it takes to make sure that the message has got through (or until we know it can’t get through). We are always open to feedback from users to find ways to make the service more helpful and acceptable. We have written a dedicated privacy policy relating to the Sexual Health Messaging Service.
Why we set up the Sexual Health Messaging Service
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) estimates that over a quarter of gay men with HIV are unaware they have the virus. HPA data also shows that the number of new STI diagnoses among gay men rose in 2008 and again in 2009.2 GMFA’s own research3 shows that the vast majority of gay men (99.3%) want to be notified by their sexual partner if they get diagnosed with an STI and 97.5% want to be told if their partner gets diagnosed with HIV.
Many STIs don’t show any symptoms, so you can easily be infected and not know it. Some STIs can have a serious impact on your health if left untreated. Some STIs can also make you more vulnerable to HIV if you are HIV-negative, or more infectious if you are HIV-positive. While it’s best to tell men you’ve had sex with if you find out you’ve picked up an STI, making that awkward phone call or sending an email can be difficult. As a result, some men choose not to tell, even though they know they should. That’s why we’ve developed this service, to make it easier.
This is a major project and marks a huge shift in the way men can notify their partners about STIs they’ve picked up. By making the process easy, we hope to make more men aware of any STIs they may have and ultimately reduce the number of STI infections in the community.
Participating Clinics: 56 Dean Street, Homerton University Hospital, The Lloyd Clinic at Guy’s Hospital, St Bartholemew’s Hospital, The Sheffield Royal Hallamshire Hospital, The Hathersage Centre in Manchester, and Claude Nicol Centre at Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.
Insights: HPA: Total numbers of STI diagnoses and other episodes of care seen at genitourinary medicine clinics by gender and sexual orientation, UK and England: 2000 – 2009.
GMFA’s survey on gay men’s experience and expectations of Partner Notification Services was conducted in January and February 2010. Over 3,000 gay and bisexual men took part via Gaydar.co.uk
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