Australian government cuts funding for chlamydia tests

A year and a half after the Australian government launched a campaign to reduce STD infection rates, funding for a nationwide chlamydia testing network has been pulled, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The country’s Department of Health has cut funding to the Burnet Institute of Melbourne, center of a 90-site testing network that gathers information on chlamydia infection. The $1.7 million AUD program reached less than 10 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds, say government health officials.

They point to its sparse reach as the primary reason for the funding withdrawal, the news provider further reported.

Other STD tracking programs, part of the $9.8 million AUD anti-STD campaign, are also up for fund reduction as Australia continues to manage a weakened economy.

Institute head Mark Stoove told the Herald that without the chlamydia monitoring program, it will be difficult to assess the campaign’s effect on STD rates.

While only 17,000 Australians reported having chlamydia in the year 2000, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, over 62,000 reported being infected in 2009.

With the economic downturn endangering funding for sexual health campaigns, those who believe they may have an STD may benefit from investing in online testing services.