If you discover you have a sexually transmitted infection (STI), the right thing to do is to alert your partner or partners so they can get tested. But how to embark on this potentially awkward conversation? TellYourPartner.org makes the process easier.
The web platform allows you to send an anonymous message to your partners via text or email letting them know they should get tested. You can craft your own message or use a scripted one. The site also includes links to clinics and information about STIs including chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea, hepatitis B, herpes, HIV, pubic lice and scabies.
A sample poster for TellYourPartner.orgCourtesy of TellYourPartner.org
The tool was created by Building Healthy Online Communities (BHOC), a consortium of public health leaders and dating app owners and websites that focuses on HIV and STI prevention online. Collaborators have included POZ Personals, Grindr, Hornet and others.
Tell Your Partner arrives as the United States sees record high numbers of STIs, including chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. (For more details about that, click here.)
Source: CDC
It’s important for people to get tested for STIs if they’ve possibly been exposed. Not only do people with untreated STIs risk transmitting the diseases to others, but they can also experience serious health problems.
“Sometimes it’s no big deal to tell a partner they may have an [STI]. But in other situations, it can feel awkward or even unsafe,” said Dan Wohlfeiler, BHOC’s cofounder, in a press release. “One of the most important things you can do for your partner’s health, your health and the whole community’s health is to encourage a partner to get tested.
“It feels good to know your partner is going to get taken care of,” Wohlfeiler added. “It’s good sexual health.”
In related news, BHOC launched a campaign this summer to inspire users of dating apps to be nicer. For more, read “‘I’m Clean. U B 2’—How Dating App Chats Can Go From RudeAF to NiceAF.”
Visit the POZ HIV Basics to learn more about syphilis, herpes, disclosure and HIV transmission risks.
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