Health Insurance launches free screening kit for 18-25 year olds to combat the rise in sexually transmitted infections

Faced with the resurgence of cases of chlamydia and gonorrhoea, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), the French health insurance system announced on Monday, June 30, the launch of a self-testing kit. Free and delivered to your home, it will be available to young people aged 18 to 25.

Available from July ¹ for women, online ordering of the kit will be extended to men "during the second half of the year," according to a press release from the National Health Insurance Fund (CNAM). After a " quick ten-question questionnaire ," the request can be made directly on the Ameli website, used for all procedures relating to health insurance .

This kit, which will be delivered "to the location of the individual's choice ," must be returned with the tube containing the self-sample to a laboratory. "The young person [will be] notified of the availability of their results by SMS within five working days," specifies the Health Insurance.

Chlamydia and gonorrhoea can be treated, but failure to receive treatment can lead to complications. These bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have been steadily increasing since the 2000s, to the point of being "a public health issue due to the serious risks they pose to both women and men," such as infertility and the risk of ectopic pregnancy, the government agency emphasizes. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control had warned on March 7, 2024, of a "worrying wave" and the "urgent need to increase awareness."

Between 2021 and 2023, gonorrhea cases jumped by 59% in men and 46% in women, while chlamydia cases increased by 10% in men, according to Public Health France. "Even in the absence of symptoms," it is possible to be a carrier of an STI "and to transmit it," the organization recalled, before specifying that "this is why screening is an essential tool in the fight against the spread of these diseases."

The launch of this kit is part of "My STI Test", which, since September 2024, allows those under 26 to be tested free of charge and without a prescription in all medical analysis laboratories for four infections: Chlamydia trachomatis , gonococcus, syphilis and hepatitis B.

According to the Health Insurance , sending a self-sampling kit has already proven its effectiveness during the “Chlamyweb” experiment carried out in 2012 by the National Institute for Prevention and Health Education.

This system had made it possible to multiply "by 3.4 the use of Chlamydia screening among young people compared to referral to the healthcare system" (general practitioners, gynecologists, free information, screening and diagnostic centers, etc.).