Scientists develop ‘Facebook for STIs’ where users can share their sexual health status

For nearly a decade now we’ve been sharing our holiday snaps and thoughts on social media. Now there’s a Facebook for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Instead of “What’s on your mind?”, it’s “What’s in your bloodstream?” via a new app called Zults which is designed to share your most intimate details.

The app allows users to upload their STI results and share them with potential partners in a bid to cut the risk of spreading infections.

The app has been launched as sexual health services across the UK grapple with an unprecedented increase in infections.

In 2023, there were 401,800 diagnoses of new STIs in England, up from 383,789 in 2022, according to the UK Health Security Agency.

The number of new gonorrhoea diagnoses reported in 2022 was the largest in any year since records began in 1918, while syphilis cases were the highest reported since 1948.

“We all have sex and could end up with an infection,” said Bianca Dunne, co-founder of Zults. “It’s like if you go to work or school and you end up with a cold.”

‘An enabler, not a barrier’

The new app allows users to upload their STI results and share them with others via a web link, QR code, or Bluetooth.

For the digitally native generation used to meeting online, it is hoped the technology will be an enabler, not a barrier.

Users can upload STI test results from Sexual Health London (SHL). If they don’t already have results, they can order an at-home testing kit from the service.

There are plans for the scheme to extend nationwide and involve other testing partners.

Against the backdrop of the rise in infections, government spending on sexual health services has been cut by more than a third since 2023.

English councils allocated £9.58 per person for sexual health services in 2022-23, which covers STI testing, treatment, contraception, and advice, compared to £14.41 spent per person in 2013-14, a recent report by the Guardian found.

Experts have warned that people are being hospitalised for sexual health conditions that could easily be treated in local clinics.

“People can die of gonorrhoea. Babies can be born with blindness. People get long-term consequences from heart infections. They can get encephalitis, a brain infection,” warned Dr Claire Dewsnap, President of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV earlier this year.

Government data reveals a disproportionate prevalence of STIs among young people, teenagers, some ethnic groups and gay and bi-sexual men.

One area of progress has been with HIV infections, which fell steadily from around 2005 but which have started to trend up again more recently.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP is now widely available in tablet form and can be used to prevent HIV infection if taken before or – in extremis – immediately after exposure to the virus.

Taking the stigma out of sexual health

The drug has undoubtedly prevented many thousands of HIV infections but some experts fear it may have inadvertently caused a decrease in the use of condoms, allowing other infections to spread.

This is not, however, supported by the published data which suggests that the trend of greater risk taking among men who have sex with men began before the advent of PrEP.

Ms Dunne said that they expect men who have sex with men to be some of the first adopters of the new app, as they are “much more involved in getting tested”.

“It’s much more part of their lifestyle, part of their culture, to get tested. They’re often more likely to get STIs because of their lifestyle. Therefore they’re going to the clinics a lot more.”

Perhaps surprisingly, women in their late thirties and forties are also among early adopters of the app.

“We have a lot of women as well where it looks like they’re recently divorced,” said Ms Dunne.

Earlier this month, the NHS saw highly sensitive data, including the results of blood tests for HIV and cancer, leaked to the public after a cyber attack by a Russian criminal gang.

The group leaked nearly 400GB of data overnight from a hack of Synnovis, a private/NHS joint venture providing pathology services like blood tests and transfusions.

The ransomware attack has impacted seven hospitals operated by two NHS trusts, including Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College.

But Ms Dunne said that the data stored on Zults is secure.

“We built our app specifically as a medical device. The regulations around that are stringent. We don’t hold on to the data for long. It’s all encrypted. We’re very conscientious about how it could be perceived,” she said.

Ms Dunne said stigma is the biggest barrier for people sharing their sexual history in a safe way.

“I’d like to be able to just ask someone about their sexual health without feeling shamed,” she said. “We understand that it is an incredibly awkward conversation to have. There are weird connotations about what ‘dirty’ and ‘clean’ means… It’s a big ask to change the way people behave and change human behaviour, but we’re committed to it.”

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