Sexual health strategy aiming to reduce STI's in young people
About half of STI's in Wiltshire happen in people between 16 and 25 years old
A new sexual health strategy is aiming to reduce the number of young people getting Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI's), according to the Cabinet Member for Public Health.
Wiltshire Council has launched a new five-year plan to overhaul sexual health services in the county, with the intention of clearing barriers for people after consulting with local people and front line staff.
Cllr Clare Cape told us they've heard about travel, access to appointments and lack of awareness as factors preventing people from engaging with sexual health services.
She also told us that about half of STI's occur in people aged 16 to 25.
"It's really important that we meet the needs of that age group and raise awareness for them," she said. "The long-term impacts if of untreated sexually transmitted infections can be quite significant and I think sometimes that's part of the awareness raising."
At the heart of the plan is to make services easier to access, better understood and more inclusive.
"It's important that we focus our attention on our more deprived areas across the county and minority communities where they may have had less awareness and in some cases the outcomes may not be as good," Cllr Cape said, saying one of the targets is to reduce inequalities across the county's population.
"We need to be targeting our efforts at overcoming the barriers about access and providing better online services, better education and more joined up working across the organisation," she said.
It's hoped that transforming the services available will allow people to access what they need quicker and with more confidence, whilst also allowing people to make well informed relationship and health choices through better education and support.