If you are sexually active, it is important to have regular sexual health check-ups. These are free and confidential. Many HIV clinics have sexual health clinics (sometimes called GUM clinics) attached, and many HIV clinics now include sexual health screening as part of their routine HIV care. You can choose which sexual health clinic you go to, and it need not be the one nearest your home or the one linked to your HIV clinic.

Most people with HIV in the UK have been diagnosed through sexual health clinics, so you may already know what services they provide.

Visits to sexual health clinics normally involve seeing a doctor or nurse who will ask you about the kind of sex you are having and whether you have any symptoms of a sexually transmitted infection (STI) before examining you. It is important to be honest about the types of sex you have had, so you can be given the appropriate tests. Sexual health clinics are very used to seeing all the communities affected by HIV in the UK. Most people are happy with their treatment at sexual health clinics, but if you are not treated in a professional and non-judgemental manner, you have a right to raise this or make a complaint.

Examinations for sexually transmitted infections vary depending on your symptoms. Often, swabs will be taken from the tip of your penis or from inside your vagina and from the mouth and throat and anus if you have had oral or anal sex. Blood samples are taken and checked for infections. You may also be asked to provide a urine sample. These swabs and samples are then examined under a microscope or sent to a laboratory to look for evidence of infection.

Some results can be given to you at your visit, but it may be necessary to wait for a text message, telephone the clinic or come back a week or so later for some other results.

All treatment at NHS sexual health clinics is free of charge (even if you are not entitled to free NHS care) and confidential. The clinic will need a record of your postcode for administration purposes. Your GP will not be informed without your consent.

If it turns out that you have a sexually transmitted infection, you may be offered the opportunity to see a health adviser. Health advisers can give you information about sexually transmitted infections and how to avoid them and can help you contact your sexual partners, if this is possible or practical, so they can also be tested and treated. Health advisers can also offer referrals to other specialist services.

In the UK, some GPs and their practice nurses now offer sexual health screens and the high street chemist, Boots, offers free chlamydia testing and treatment for people aged 16 to 24, as does the National Chlamydia Screening Programme (see www.chlamydiascreening.nhs.uk for details of local services).