A new app aimed at reducing the stigma associated with sexual health is one of several options available for young people looking to take control of their sexual health.
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The app, Geni, assesses a person's risk of having an STI and creates reminders for when they should attend a sexual health check, while also providing advice fact-checked by healthcare professionals.
Data from a national study commissioned by the apps developer and medical technology company Hologic found almost a third of Australians aged 18-34 had never had a sexual health check.
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Of the participants, 31 per cent revealed they had not booked an appointment for a sexual health check because they were worried the experience would be awkward or embarrassing.
According to Hologic, the app provides users with a bank of approved healthcare providers to suit the user's needs, including female General Practitioners, LGBTQI+ friendly clinics and health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation national health promotions manager Elizabeth Ham said the app would provide young people with more confidence when seeking healthcare - when they need it.
Health Hub director Dr Jerome Muir Wilson said it was not uncommon for young adults to feel uncomfortable or nervous when discussing their sexual health.
"Often it can be a teenager or young adults' first time coming to the doctor by themselves," he said.
"That can be confronting for them, doing it themselves for the first time, and if they're doing that and asking for a sexual health check you can see why they're a little bit embarrassed at that age."
Dr Muir Wilson said it was important for young adults to understand they could see a doctor if they had health concerns, and to know their privacy would be maintained.
"Anyone that's got valid consent from 14 onwards can have complete privacy without their parents knowing about it, or anyone else," he said.
"It's just ensuring that young people know that they can see a doctor with complete confidentiality.
"We see and we talk about everything that goes in and out of the body and every part of the body that goes with it, for us, it's just what we do."
Dr Muir Wilson said chlamydia and syphilis were two of the more common diseases in the Launceston community, but explained treatment was available, with early detection beneficial in limiting any long term health impacts.
"Something like chlamydia is as easy as two tablets to treat it," he said.
"It's very easy to treat, and most of them are very treatable and prevent all the complications of having issues with fertility or pelvic pain later in life."
Dr Muir Wilson said people seeking a sexual health check could access free services in Launceston through the state-run Sexual Health Service, Clinic 34.
"That's a free sexual health clinic that doesn't cost anything to see a doctor or nurse or a sexual health check, so that so that's available along with every GP around town," he said.