The clinic is attempting to improve levels of sex education in Sheffield after the city was ranked as the second worst in the UK for the quality of its service.
Two stalls were set up this morning, one in Burngreave and the other at Howden House in the city centre, with the aim to offer anonymous support, advice from experts, and contraception regarding HIV.
In a statement, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals urged people to use the clinic for preventative and post-exposure treatment.
Pre-exposure Prophylaxis is a tablet taken to stop an HIV infection with a 99.9% success rate.
Dr Becky Green, Senior Clinical Psychologist for the NHS Foundation Trust said: “HIV can affect anyone regardless of age, and the COVID pandemic means that we all have a lived experience of what it is like to fear a virus and how talking about it freely and sharing public health information can reduce stigma.”
Last month, Superdrug conducted a study exploring factors behind STI stigma across the UK, placing Sheffield near the bottom of the list.
Eighty per cent of participants rated the quality of sex education in Sheffield as poor or basic, second only to Liverpool, 11% higher than the UK average of 72%.
Dan Bermingham-Shaw, a researcher for the study, said 8% were not bothered by schools failing to cover sexually transmitted infections, while 4% thought it was good that they didn’t.
Sexual Health Sheffield is encouraging people to speak openly about viruses such as HIV in order to battle stigma that surrounds the virus. The average life expectancy of those infected is the same as those without.
Mr Bermingham-Shaw said: “One of the main findings of the study was that a lot of people who have an STI diagnosis won’t want to talk about it. While most people said they were comfortable to talk about it with a doctor, they are a lot less likely to talk about it with their friends and family, even their partners. So, a lack of conversation around the topic reduces the amount of education people have on it”
You can read about the full study here: https://onlinedoctor.superdrug.com/simply-talk-about-it/
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