Where should chlamydia screening be done? Who should be screened? How do we engage young men and vulnerable groups? How do we increase the uptake? Can the internet help? As a timely response to a recent call for innovative ways to encourage chlamydia screening in young people,¹ we publish two papers (pp 142 and 148) and a commentary (p 152) tackling some of these issues.

Götz et al’s pilot study in Rotterdam examined ways of encouraging chlamydia screening among African Caribbeans from Surinam and the Antilles (see p 148). In a previous population based study this group was at higher risk of infection than white Dutch people,² but less likely to respond to a postal invitation to provide home collected specimens for chlamydia testing.³ In this study, urine collection kits were offered by street outreach workers, or public health nurses providing sex education in vocational training schools. Participants could provide a specimen on site, or take a kit home with them. In the school and group settings uptake among the minority ethnic group was higher than in the postal intervention.³ The positivity rate in female vocational training school students was extremely high (27.9%, 95% CI 16.7% to 42.6%).

In contrast with targeting specific groups and settings, Novak and Karlsson set up an internet website to promote chlamydia testing to the whole adult population in one Swedish county (see p 142). Visitors to the site could request …