Chlamydia kits given to students

The tests will given out to all new students at the University of Essex

Self-testing kits for chlamydia are to be included in welcome packs distributed to new university students.

Freshers at the University of Essex will receive the kits, aimed at tackling the UK's most common sexually-transmitted disease.

If untreated, chlamydia can cause major health problems, including infertility.

The move was announced by North East Essex NHS Primary Care Trust, which has handed out tests to students at the Colchester-based university's bars.

Jayne Overett, of the trust, said: "Students are very much in our target group because the national chlamydia screening programme is aimed at people between the ages of 15 and 24.

"Members of the Chlamydia Team already go along to the university students' union bar once a month to give out the self-testing kits and collect them back on the same evening and also to be available to chat and give out information."

About one in 10 people aged 15 to 24 in North East Essex who have tested themselves have been found to have chlamydia, the trust said.