Online chlamydia testing: an innovative approach that appeals to young people

Azzopardi, Peter S; Kennedy, Elissa C; Brown, Alex D

doi:10.5694/mja12.11384

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To the Editor: We congratulate Kwan and colleagues on their evaluation of an online chlamydia testing program (OLC) in Western Australia. However, their study does not demonstrate OLC to be a “highly effective means of increasing access to testing among young people at risk of STIs [sexually transmitted infections]”.1

1 Centre for Adolescent Health, Royal Children’s Hospital, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC.
2 Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Alice Springs, NT.
3 Centre for International Health, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, VIC.
4 School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC.
5 South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, SA.

Correspondence: peter.azzopardi@rch.org.au

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

1. Kwan KS, Jachimowicz EA, Bastian L, et al. Online chlamydia testing: an innovative approach that appeals to young people. Med J Aust 2012; 197: 287-290. <MJA full text>
2. Government of Western Australia Department of Health. The epidemiology of notifiable sexually transmitted infections and blood-borne viruses in Western Australia 2010. Perth: DoH, WA, 2011.
3. Blair EM, Zubrick SR, Cox AH; WAACHS Steering Committee. The Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey: findings to date on adolescents. Med J Aust 2005; 183: 433-435. <MJA full text>
4. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. Second National Sexually Transmissible Infections Strategy 2010–2013. Canberra: DoHA, 2010.
5. Miller GC, McDermott R, McCulloch B, et al. Predictors of the prevalence of bacterial STI among young disadvantaged Indigenous people in north Queensland, Australia. Sex Transm Infect 2003; 79: 332-335.

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