LONDON, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Young women seeking the morning-after pill at British pharmacies also will be offered screening for Chlamydia, the No. 1 sexually transmitted infection.
University of Manchester researchers said their study, which begins on Jan. 3, intends to reach young women who often skip doctors when seeking emergency contraceptives.
The effort hopes to reach 2,000 women at pharmacies, 1,000 at family planning clinics and 400 at the Manchester Brook Advisory Service.
The study will offer a plain purple box to young women to be tested for Chlamydia. If they test positive, the woman and her partner will be referred for treatment, said researcher Grace Thomas.
The entire process would take two weeks.
It is thought up to 10 percent of Britons 25 and younger have Chlamydia, which often has no symptoms and can lead to infertility.
"Chlamydia really is so simple to treat. In most cases four tablets there and then and, as long as your partner is treated too, that is the end of it," Thomas said.
