What is the SOC Project about?

Stamp Out Chlamydia (SOC) is a collaborative research and health promotion project that is bringing free and confidential chlamydia screening to the ANU, CIT and UC campuses in Canberra. The project aims to offer free testing and treatment for chlamydia to students aged 16 to 26 years in Canberra, and to increase awareness of this infection in the student population.

 

Who are the organisations behind the SOC Project?

SOC is a collaborative research and health promotion project between the Academic Unit of Internal Medicine at the Australian National University, the Canberra Sexual Health Centre at The Canberra Hospital, and Sexual Health and Family Planning ACT (SHFPACT) and is funded by the Department of Health and Ageing through the Chlamydia Targeted Grants Program.

 

Why are we doing this project?

Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted infection that affects approximately 7% of sexually active young people aged 16 to 25 tested in the ACT.

 

The Australian National University, with the support of the Canberra Sexual Health Centre and Sexual Health and Family Planning ACT is carrying out a study to develop and implement a cost effective program of education and chlamydia testing for young people in the tertiary sector in the ACT, suitable for implementation nationally. The study will test for chlamydia, and treat if positive, 2400 tertiary students aged 16 to 25 years, increase awareness of chlamydia in the target population, and determine the overall direct costs of the program and the cost  per case identified.

 

What will I have to do to take part in this study?

To take part in the SOC project, you need to be a student at the ANU, CIT or UC and be aged between 16 and 26 years. If you consent to participate in this study, you will be asked to provide a urine specimen (you do this in private), which will be sent to the pathology lab at The Canberra Hospital for testing for chlamydia only. You will be asked to give verbal permission for your name, contact phone number and chlamydia test result to be sent to the study team (no one else will see these details) so that you can be notified if your test is positive for chlamydia.  There is no charge for having the test done. If you have chlamydia, antibiotics will be provided to you and your partners for free.

 

What happens if I have a positive test?

A project nurse will contact you and arrange an appointment to discuss treatment. Treatment for chlamydia is simple, and usually involves taking a single dose of antibiotics. It is also necessary that any sexual partners you have had during the previous six months are offered testing and treatment. The nurses will discuss how you would like to arrange this. Contact with your sexual partners cannot be made without your consent. As chlamydia is potentially a serious infection, the laboratory is required to notify the Communicable Disease Control Section of ACT Health when they find a positive result. This is to help monitor the spread of this infection in the community.

 

Where can I get more information?

• Project Nurses - Belinda Davis and Anne Baynes at the Canberra Sexual Health Centre (02) 6244 2184

• Health Promotions Officer - Matt Schmidt (02) 6247 3018

• Principal Investigator - Prof Frank Bowden at the Australian National University (02) 6244 2063

• ACT Health & Community Care Human Research Ethics Committee (02) 6205 0846

• ANU Human Research Ethics Committee (02) 6125 2900

• UC Human Research Ethics Committee (02) 6201 2148

• Mr Vaughn Croucher at CIT (02) 6207 3100

SOC is an initiative of the Commonwealth Government.