OUR LATEST ISSUE
Terrence Higgins Trust targets gay men on the scene
"Levels of some STIs are still high among gay men and if left untreated can cause long term health complications"
The Terrence Higgins has relaunched its highly successful ‘Get it checked, get back out there’ campaign to try and increase awareness of sexually-transmitted infections among gay men on the scene.
The campaign includes gay bar washroom panels, roadside adverts near gay venues, phone boxes near London gay venues, adverts in London Underground stations and cigarette kiosks on Manchester’s Canal Street.
The campaign originally ran in 2005. It includes adverts with images of sexy men in their underwear, but with visible signs of a STI – a sore, rash or discharge. The waistband of the underwear features the name of the infection. One of the images appears normal apart from ‘STI’ printed along the waistband, to highlight that some infections have no symptoms at all.
Marc Thompson, Deputy Head of Health Promotion at Terrence Higgins Trust said “Gay men responded really well to the campaign last time and it increased their awareness of STIs. However, levels of some STIs are still high among gay men and if left untreated they can cause long term health complications. The message of the campaign is to get checked out and get back out there.”
The STIs focused on in the new campaign are syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, NSU and herpes. The adverts offer support and information through the THT Direct or by logging onto www.chapsonline.org.uk/infections , a site aimed specifically at gay men
