Maintain pressure on reforms to protect NHSScreening young offenders could cut STIs
Routinely screening young offenders for sexually transmitted infections could lower their long-term prevalence in society, according to the Medical Research Council (MRC).
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Interviews with 40 Scottish young offenders revealed 24 had taken STI tests, 16 of which used readily available screening provided by the Young Offenders Institution.
Dr Katie Buston, from the MRC’s Social and Public Health Services Unit, said targeting male young offenders who had a high rate of sexual partners would give a “rare opportunity” to help those “from the poorest and most socially excluded sections of society.”
She said: “A standard opt-out screening programme would enable the diagnosis and treatment of STIs amongst this group, as well as serving as an opportunity for sexual health promotion and perhaps contact tracing.
“This could reduce the prevalence of STIs in the community, in the medium and longer-term, as many of those in young offenders institutions will be released back into society in a matter of months rather than years.”
The research was published in the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care.
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