NEWCASTLE, Australia, 27th August 2024 – On a mission to break taboos around sexual health
and STI testing, Stigma Health has upped the ante on locker room conversations by sponsoring local
Maitland Rugby Club this year.
“As the leading provider of online STI testing, Stigma Health doesn’t shy away from the awkward
conversations and tackling taboos around STIs needs to start in the most unlikely of places to enact real
change” James Sneddon, CEO and co-founder of Stigma Health said.
The partnership has been well received by the players and community with co-founders James Sneddon
and Dr Mitchell Tanner competing on rival teams – whenever they meet it’s now referred fondly by locals
as the ‘Sexual Health Round’.
“If you need to have a laugh about it to break the ice then bring it on, it’s how you get the conversation
started right? Normalising sexual health is going to have exponential benet for local communities and
future generations” Sneddon adds.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 1 million STIs are acquired every day
worldwide, the majority of which are asymptomatic – meaning someone might not even be aware they
have an STI because they aren’t showing any obvious symptoms. In Australia, STIs continue to rise, with
the most recent report showing 10,918 cases of Chlamydia – 33% higher than the historical ve-year
mean.
Regionally, the impact is significant, and one of the main reasons Sneddon and his co-founder Dr Tanner
got Stigma Health off the ground to acknowledge the issue in their local community.
The partnership runs through the 2024 season.
Stigma Health offers comprehensive testing with a bulk-bill option for Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea, Syphilis,
Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV.