Breaking It Down: STIs in Aotearoa

NEWS | MAHIMAHI / SEX

Written by Evie Richardson (she/her) | @evi3m4y | News Editor 

It’s estimated that more than half of New Zealanders will experience an STI at some point in their lifetime. Currently young people are at the highest risk of experiencing an STI, with 1 in 2 having contracted one before the age of 25. 

Despite just how common it is to contract an STI, stigma around STI’s is still prevalent, leading to embarrassment and a fear of getting tested. To break down some of the stigma, we’ve sourced the numbers, and are going to start by breaking those down instead: 

These numbers all reference the 2023 Family Planning Survey on Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) Prevention via Sexual Wellbeing. 

85

85% of people feel STI information should be included in relationships and sexuality education in schools. 

63

63% of people said that their health practitioner had never discussed STI tests with them unless they had symptoms, or brought it up themselves. Despite having higher rates of STI, this number rose to 77% for 16-19 year olds. 

47 

47% of people said the only time they were proactively asked about getting an STI test was at a cervical screening. Cervical screening isn’t recommended until age 25. 

37

37% of people hadn’t had an STI test in the past five years. 15% of these were too ashamed to ask about or get a test and 14% of these didn’t know where to go for a test. 

33

33% of people said they didn’t have STI covered as part of relationships and sexuality education (RSE) at school or simply didn’t have RSE at school. The government has just released its draft RSE guidelines - the previous guidelines were scrapped nearly a year ago, and the updated guidelines aren’t yet in place. In this new draft, STI, testing and prevention is recommended to be taught from year 9 up until year 12. However, nothing in the guidelines is compulsory, and even if it is integrated into the curriculum, parents can opt their child out at any point. 

30

People aged under 30 felt they didn’t have enough information about STIs. Young people aged under 29 are at particularly high risk of STIs. 

18

18% of people said it was difficult to get a test. There were a plethora of reasons for this: 59% of these said it was because it took too long to get an appointment. 45% said clinic times didn’t work for them, and 36% felt they would be judged by a health practitioner. 35% adding it was too hard to get time off work, school or study. 33% were concerned it would cost too much or didn’t know how much it would cost. 

It’s clear that people in Aotearoa have a lot of questions about STIs and how to deal with them. The stats seem to say that we have a long way to go to fully open up the conversation about STIs, but in the hopes of making a start, we’ve answered a few questions below. 

What STIs am I at risk of? 

There are a number of different STIs that are prevalent in Aotearoa, but the most commonly diagnosed is Chlamydia. Majority of the time, Chlamydia doesn’t show symptoms, highlighting why it’s important to get tested regularly. Gonorrhea is also common, and again often doesn’t show symptoms with up to 50% of women and 90% of men not experiencing symptoms. Syphilis is another prevalent disease, which even more rarely shows symptoms. Other STIs include HPV, Herpes, Urethritis, Trichomoniasis and HIV. 

How much does it cost to get tested for an STI and where can I get tested? 

While it's true that STI testing can be expensive in certain places, such as a private doctor's practice, there are also accessible options. If you’re a student, take advantage of your university doctor, where you can get a free STI test as often as you need. If you’re not a student, there are other options. Operating in multiple locations across Tāmaki Makaurau , Auckland Sexual Health Services offer free and confidential sexual health care. Their West and South clinics offer walk in services. Sexual wellbeing Aotearoa offers free appointments to those under 22 and as well as cheaper appointments for those with a community services card. Many pharmacies also offer self testing kits, with the cost starting around $20. 

How often should I be tested?

With so many STIs not presenting symptoms, it’s strongly recommended to get tested at least once a year. Even if you use protection and don’t have multiple partners, this applies to anyone who is sexually active, particularly those under 25. If you don’t use protection, have multiple partners or have a history of STIs you should be getting tested more regularly, such as every 3-6 months. 

How do I treat an STI? 

Treating an STI is generally super easy. Of course treatment varies depending on the STI, but more often than not it's just a simple course of antibiotics (and perhaps refraining from sex for a little while). The first step to treatment however, is getting tested.