If you’re reading this then chances are you’re not at Splendour in the Grass – the annual three day music festival which started today in Byron Bay.
And that’s potentially good news because reportedly about 1000 people there have chlamydia.
Before you start speculating on the status of individual festival goers of your acquaintance it’s worth pointing out that this is an estimate based on the fact that there are 30,000 people there. About one in thirty young people have the sexually transmitted disease, and of the thousand likely chlamydiacs at Byron today around 720 of them won’t be aware of it.
Chlamydia, you see, is an insidious disease that doesn’t necessarily announce itself, especially for women. And it can really do a number on your health and fertility later on.
And that’s why NSW Health are doing screenings at the festival, and you have to admire their insider knowledge of what constitutes an incentive for people at a camping festival: they’re access to pristine toilets, which is reason enough to hand over a bit of wee for testing.
If you’ve been to festivals, you know what Day 3 smells like.
“Music festivals present an opportunity to reach our target audience, raise awareness of STIs and reduce the stigma around testing,” NSW Health’s Chris Bourne explained to the Sydney Morning Herald, and the fact they’ve set up near the campground means that… look, they’re going to have a really solid captive audience, is what we’re saying.
Folks will be alerted in a week as to whether they’re AOK or need to do something, and look, even if you’re not in Byron, if you’ve been less than entirely assiduous with the placement of your genitals since the last checkup, it’s probably worth getting tested (and you can find a clinic here: scroll down to find your state).
Your future, your partner(s) and your most sensitive bits will thank you.