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The sexual health organisation launches a new campaign that sees social media influencers ending the culture of silence that surrounds sexual health testing.
Getting a sexual health check-up might be a daunting experience for a number of reasons. Thanks to the sexual health organisation, SH:24, and their home testing kits, young people now no longer need to go into a clinic for their sexual health screens. Founded ten years ago in London, the NHS-funded service is now a sought-after resource for young people across the country, who might not be able to access traditional sexual health screening in clinics. Its latest social media campaign #TalkMoreTestMore seeks to end what the organisation describes as a culture of silence that still surrounds sexual health testing, as well as being driven to correct sexual health misinformation circulating on social media.
When coming up with the new campaign, the organisation turned to social media influencers to help spread the word. As well as having a website landing page for young people to turn to for support and information, SH:24 recognised the unquestionable role social media plays in the majority of young people’s lives.
Influencers involved in the latest campaign include Dee Whitnell, Sam Morris, Emilie Lavinia and Jeffie Plays. From now until the end of October, they will share with their thousands of followers Instagram Reels that highlight just how easy it is to test yourself for sexually transmitted infections from home, thanks to SH:24’s home testing kits.
The diversity of the influencers enlisted to support SH:24 reflects both the organisation’s ambition to reach a wide-ranging audience, as well as being conscious of the need to represent a diverse range of voices to reflect the organisation’s users. When I ask Emily Jackson, social media and partnerships manager at SH:24, about the organisation’s decision to include social media influencers, she agrees that the organisation recognised the need for diverse representation in the new campaign. The organisation was also mindful to include influencers who might be recognisable in the sexual health space, as well as those who may not traditionally focus on sexual health topics, to reach as many young people online as possible.
“We find, as a sexual health organisation, that social media can be such a difficult place to spread important conversations about these topics, because of things like shadow banning,” says Jackson. “It’s almost like we’re being silenced for trying to help people and educate people on these topics. So getting as many people on board with this, with different influences from different communities and fields, was really important to us.”
According to the organisation, the campaign couldn’t come sooner, given that the rates of sexually transmitted infections are actually increasing. Figures from the UK Health Security Agency show there were 401,800 diagnoses of new STIs in 2023, which is an increase of 4.7% compared with the previous year. “More than half of sexually active adults will get an STI at some point in their lives,” says Jackson of the current trends in STIs.
Alongside the increase in people getting sexually transmitted infections, there are still too few people getting tested; 58% of people in the UK have never been tested for STIs, according to a recent study. Jackson argues that the stigmatisation of sexual health remains one of the main barriers to testing. “The conversation about testing and just sexual health in general is still shrouded in shame, and that’s something we want to break the stigma around,” she says. “STI testing should not be a taboo topic for young people.”
SH:24 has been leading the way with home testing kits for the past ten years. Although other services are now available to people wanting to test at home, the organisation is very much an established and trusted organisation in the sexual health testing space. SH:24’s head of marketing, Francesco Zanin, tells me the organisation’s success is partly down to its commitment to understanding its service users.
One recent development that Zanin shares with me is SH:24’s switch to eco friendly and sustainable packaging for their home testing kits. He argues the move is a reflection of the organisation’s awareness of the health sector’s impact on the environment, as well as the organisation’s ecologically-conscious users.
“I think this is testament as well of who we are as an organisation,” says Zanin. “We are obviously a community first organisation. We’re not driven by profit. Essentially, we are driven by this mission of making sexual health available to all people, no matter what they are, where they are, and what their spending capacity is.”
I bring up the topic of misinformation. Given that the campaign will use social media to spread information about sexual health and STI testing, I wonder how SH:24 has thought about its role in disseminating medically accurate information online.
“There’s so much misinformation online,” replies Jackson. “Not only just about sexual health, but everything! Challenging that misinformation and correcting it, as well as being like a source of support and help is really important to us.” In addition to spreading the importance of getting an STI test, SH:24 also wants to encourage young people to undertake regular sexual health testing.
“We also want to be a support base for people, like if they have questions or concerns about their sexual health,” adds Jackson. “They can look at our services and order an STI test kit from us, but also get in touch with our team to talk things through too.”
There is also the issue of government funding. The cuts to sexual health services over the past few years, which have seen sexual health clinics close or have their services significantly scaled back, have resulted in people not always being able to access timely sexual health services in their local communities. While SH:24 deliver their home testing kits in partnership with the NHS, which will go some way to plug the gaps in local sexual health services, these funding cuts continue to impact on young people’s sexual health.
“Generally, cuts to the public health budget have directly impacted young people’s ability to access SRH services,” says Chris Howroyd, SH:24’s CEO, of the impact of funding cuts on young people’s access to sexual health services and testing. “However, it’s worth noting that services are regionally managed across England, so a local perspective needs to be considered on a case by case basis – how regions configure and deliver services greatly differ, therefore access levels for young people equally differ.” Although initiatives such as moving towards digital services have helped to reduce the cost of services, while increasing access potential, budget cuts continue to squeeze sexual health services. “Essentially, demand continues to rise for SRH services, whilst capacity is undermined by inadequate public health budgets.”
Zanin echoes this, “I think that there is definitely a squeeze in the amount of funding available.” He adds that SH:24 is currently waiting to see what a change of government will mean for the funding of sexual health services.
Could these cuts be impacting the trends we are currently seeing in STI rates amongst young people, I venture. “Given the assumed correlation between funding levels and access to services, then STI rates are likely to be directly impacted,” replies Howroyd. “Both increased access and prevention activities, need to address the forever changing behaviours of our young people.”
Whilst SH:24 celebrates its tenth anniversary, the service continues to look forward when it comes to helping even more young people with their sexual health. As #TalkMoreTestMore launches this month, SH:24 is thinking about what’s next. PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis), the drug that is taken by people who are HIV-negative to prevent them from acquiring the virus, is next on its list. It seems that as the sexual health sector is forced to cut back services, SH:24 continues to think of ways to get round these hurdles, as it continues on its mission to help young people gain access to sexual health services, and dispel the myths and taboos of sexual health.
Follow the campaign’s hashtag on social media now #TalkMoreTestMore, as well as SH:24 on Instagram and X (Twitter).
