The state is set to roll out a free nationwide STI home testing service in 2022 at a cost of €3 million a year.

In the period up to the end of 2019, before Covid-related lockdowns began, there were major increases in the number of STIs in Ireland.

The kits will test for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, syphilis and HIV. The scheme will be run with the help of SH:24, a free online sexual health service.

The programme will be based on a pilot scheme from earlier this year, which involved 13,749 kits being posted to people’s homes over a five-month period at a cost of €734,000.

As part of the programme, anyone aged 17 and older will be able to order a free STI test to their home. There will be a set number of kits available to order per day. Results will be communicated through the SH:24 clinical team by phone or text message. If follow-up testing or treatment is required, this will be provided for nothing by HSE public STI clinics. The service is aimed at individuals who do not have symptoms of an STI.

The initial pilot scheme had to be halted for a period after almost 5,000 orders were received in less than a day. A spokeswoman for SH:24 called the uptake in Ireland “unprecedented”.