So You Think You Know Everything About Sex? NHS Direct Supports Sexual Health Awareness Week 6th - 12th August 2007, UK

August 9, 2007 – 1:43 am | posted in Sexual Health / STDs

Too embarrassed to talk about sex? Think you may have a sexually transmitted infection (STI) but don’t know what the symptoms are? Need information but want to remain anonymous? Issues about sexual health can be difficult to discuss, but NHS Direct has a choice of convenient ways for anyone to get the information they need without being embarrassed.

NHS Direct’s website and its digital TV service on Sky and Freeview provide 24 hour, anonymous access to a wealth of information about sexual health. You can also ring the NHS Direct telephone service for confidential advice too. The service is seeing an ever increasing number of people accessing this information and advice. For example, the website received over 2,300 visits to its content on contraception in the last 12 months, as well as over 1000 relating to general sexual health and almost 4,500 visits from people wanting information on Gynaecology.

In the UK, STIs have been rising continually since the 1990s. Between 2004 and 2005, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) reported a 3% increase in the number of diagnosed STIs, with a total of 790,387 cases. The biggest increase was in the number of confirmed diagnoses of syphilis which rose by a massive 23%, to a total of 2,807 cases. There were also increases in positive diagnoses of chlamydia, genital warts, and herpes.

To some extent, the increase in the number of diagnosed cases of STIs is due to a greater awareness of the problem, more reliable diagnostic techniques, and an increase in the number of sexual health and GUM clinics carrying out tests. However, by far the highest increase in STIs has been among the 16 to 24 age group which is a worrying trend.

Adrian Reyes-Hughes, Associate Director of Health & Health Service Information for NHS Direct says; “Many people find it difficult to talk about sexual health issues - they can be embarrassing. Most issues can be easily resolved with the right advice. The NHS Direct website and digital TV services (Sky Digital and Freeview) provide straight forward information that can be viewed in your own home, without anyone else knowing what your problem is. The information will help you decide if you need to do anything, whether you can manage the problem yourself or whether you do need to seek medical advice.”

More and more people find using NHS Direct’s website and interactive digital TV services the best way for them to gain further insight. There is a wide range of topics to choose, whether it’s answers to frequently asked questions on the website or videos about sexual health on the Sky Digital service aimed a different ages.

With sexual health consistently being in the top 10 most popular topics that people log onto at http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk, the service is seeing an ever increasing number of people looking for information such as;

– Where is my local GUM clinic?
– Where can I go for testing
– Can sexually transmitted infection (STI) be passed on through sexual contact?
– Will an STI affect fertility?
– Information on unprotected sex

NHS Direct can offer a wealth of information on sexual health and all other health issues by simply logging onto the website http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk, pressing the interactive button on their Sky Digital remote control, turning to Freeview channel 108 or calling 0845 4647.

NHS Direct is at the forefront of 24 hour health care delivering telephone and e-health information services day and night direct to the public

– NHS Direct provides health information and advice 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
– NHS Direct handles around 6.5 million telephone calls a year
– The NHS Direct website http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk attracts more than 1.5 million visits each month
– NHS Direct on Freeview was launched just before Christmas 2006 and together with the service on Sky Digital means that over 14 million households have access to hundreds of pages packed with health information. These include:
- Answers to common health questions,
- Advice on healthy living such as: eating well, exercise and giving up smoking
- Information about NHS Services
- Features on long-term health conditions
- News on current health issues
– NHS Direct is accessed on Freeview by going to channel 108.
– NHS Direct Interactive on Sky Digital TV includes 3000 pages of information on 500 health topics.
– NHS Direct Interactive on Sky Digital is accessed by pressing the interactive button on the Sky Digital remote control, scrolling down to NHS Direct Interactive and pressing Select.

http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk

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