New Campaign Leads To Major Increase In NHS Chlamydia Screening Rates In Islington

May 2009

Over 650 young people across Islington were tested for chlamydia last month as part of the ‘Hooked Up Beats’ campaign. The innovative campaign from NHS Islington offered the chance to win VIP tickets for an exclusive gig to every young person aged 16-25 who was screened. The campaign led to a 360% increase in screening figures across the borough¹ and could result in a huge financial saving for the NHS.

Chlamydia is the most common Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) in the UK – one in 12 under 25s tested have chlamydia, which frequently goes undetected as there are often no symptoms². It costs the NHS an estimated £100 million a year to treat the long-term health implications of chlamydia, which can include pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) ectopic pregnancy and infertility. It has been estimated that 10-20% of untreated infections result in PID.

Young people taking part in the campaign were able to get tested at a series of nine college events across the borough, or were encouraged to send a text message to get a self-test kit posted to them. Hundreds of posters were distributed to Connexions centres, youth centres, voluntary groups, GP surgeries, pubs and clubs across the area to promote the campaign.

The campaign also ran on Facebook, MySpace and YouTube, where young people were able to vote for the acts they wanted to perform at the gig. The secret gig line up has now been revealed and features some of the biggest names on the UK underground music scene. The headline act will be MOBO Award-nominated grime superstar Skepta, with support coming from pioneering female rapper and producer GoldieLocks, reigning UK beatboxing champion MC Zani and current World DMC champion turntablist DJ Switch.

Dr Renu Bindra, Public Health Lead for Sexual Health in NHS Islington, said: “By putting on an exciting high profile gig, offering screening which young people can easily access and using mediums such as Facebook and text messaging, the Hooked Up Beats campaign has raised awareness and broken down some of the barriers young people may face when going for a chlamydia test.

“More young people have been willing to come forward to get tested and we are delighted with the increase in screening figures. We will be using insight gathered from the campaign to establish a sustainable chlamydia screening programme that will continue to increase figures and make testing more accessible for everyone across Islington. If we continue to produce these kinds of results, there is real potential to make savings for NHS.”

The Hooked Up Beats campaign was created in response to the national government initiative to encourage more under 25s to be tested for chlamydia in their communities. The 2008-09 Government target for chlamydia screening was 17% of men and women aged 15-25. The longer term aim is to work towards 35-50%.

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¹ Prior to the Hooked Up Beats campaign, the average number of young people being screened in Islington per month was 179. During the Hooked Up Beats campaign, which ran from February 24th to March 31st, 651 young people were screened for chlamydia.

² Statistics taken from the National Chlamydia Screening Programme