Date published: 01.09.08 - not release date

CHLAMYDIA - The Christmas Gift Nobody Wants

Christmas is the season of giving. But with one in ten people thought to be affected by Chlamydia, you may have given – or received – much more than you bargained for this festive season.

Fast diagnosis and treatment is available using the Boots Pharmacy+ Chlamydia Test Kit (£25.00) which is available from over 1000 of their pharmacies in England and Wales. AND if you’re aged between 16 and 24 and live in London, a similar test and the subsequent treatment is FREE under an existing NHS pilot scheme.

Chlamydia is the most commonly diagnosed sexually transmitted infection. The number of cases has more than tripled since the 1990s from 32,288 cases diagnosed in 1995 to 109,958 in 2005. Between 2004 and 2005 there was a 5 per cent rise in the number of cases of Chlamydia diagnosed at Genitourinary Medicine clinics (GUM), a rise of 7 per cent in men and 3 per cent in women. In 2005, within England, rates in both males and females were highest in London, but were also high in Yorkshire and Humberside and the North West.

Angela Chalmers, Boots Pharmacist says: “GUM Clinics can be extremely busy pre and post-Christmas and it is important that fast and effective testing and treatment services are accessible, especially for those with increasingly busy lifestyles or the self conscious who may find it difficult to visit their local NHS clinic.”

The Boots Pharmacy+ Chlamydia Testing Service uses advanced laboratory testing and analysis to provide the result. It is the same method as that used in the NHS Chlamydia screening service provided by Boots pharmacies in London and gives the same levels of accuracy.

The service works in the following way:

•Purchase a Boots Pharmacy+ Chlamydia Test Kit from the family planning area of the store (remember to ask your Boots pharmacist for a free test if you’re aged between 16 and 24 and live in London)

•Send your urine sample by freepost, where it will be sent to the laboratory for analysis.

•You choose how to receive your results either by e-mail, text message or by calling a telephone service within 7 working days.

•If the result is positive, you can access treatment as part of the Boots Chalmydia Treatment Service in around 350 Boots stores, or treatment can be obtained via other NHS routes.

According to Boots research , 69% of GPs feel that their patients are more embarrassed about talking about sexual health problems than any other problem. We hope that making a chlamydia test and treatment widely available from a pharmacy setting will help minimise this, and ensure that those who might be at risk of chlamydia can be tested and treated with minimum embarrassment.”

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For more info, contact Michelle Redmond on behalf of Tiger White PR on 020 8288 0849

Notes to Editors:

•The Boots Chlamydia Treatment Service is offered in 350 Boots stores, where the pharmacist has been trained to offer the treatment service. Customers will also be able to find out information on local NHS sexual health services in their area from the pharmacist.

•Chlamydia can usually be easily treated with antibiotics. However, if untreated in women, it can lead to complications such as Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, ectopic pregnancy and infertility.

•Boots has implemented a two-year pilot project on behalf of the Department of Health. This began in November 2005 and aims to assess pharmacies as an access point for chlamydia testing and treatment by offering free over-the-counter testing kits to 16-24 year olds at 216 pharmacies in London.