The region’s medical officer of health says that Grey Bruce Public Health is working to grow services available through its sexual health program.
Dr. Ian Arra gave an update during the most recent Grey Bruce Board of Health meeting, saying that in the first half of this year, the clinics were able to treat 339 clients from all municipalities in Grey Bruce, as well as Saugeen First Nation and Neyaashiinigmiing.
He says that it’s particularly important to give everyone across the region because timely access to testing and treatment is crucial for preventing the spread of infections such as chlamydia and gonorrhea.
“Patients from all 17 municipalities have been attending our clinics, so we’re positioning them in a different location throughout Grey Bruce that allows access.”
Across Canada, there has been an increase in the number of cases of sexually transmitted infections such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis year-over-year both prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The need to be available throughout the community helps everyone, especially those who don’t have a primary care physician.
The program has gotten attention from national media, and Arra says that it could be easier to fill that gap in care with support from the province.
“In general, [the program is] growing, and it’s supporting the community, and hopefully the healthcare system is going to do its turn on delivering these services so we can go back to the baseline that we were at a few years ago.”
Beyond providing testing and treatment for STIs, the sexual health clinics also offer counselling on and prescribing contraceptives, pregnancy testing and counselling, and general safe sex education.
Public Health is also hoping to add cervical cancer screening to its list of services soon.
The clinics had to be paused due to the pandemic response, but have been back up and running since July 2022.