How a new sexual health startup wants to break the stigma of sexually transmitted diseases

The number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) has risen alarmingly around the world in recent years, prompting warnings from leading health organizations. A new app called “Facebook for STIs” aims to make it easier and less embarrassing to share information about sexual health with one another.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has noted a “worrying” increase in cases of syphilis, gonorrhoea and chlamydia in its latest annual epidemiological report.

The findings, according to the organization, underscored that “there is an urgent need for greater awareness of sexually transmitted disease transmission and more effective prevention, access to testing and treatment are needed” to address the problem.

This is where Zults comes in, a new digital sexual health platform that aims to encourage people to practice safer sex and reduce the shame and stigma surrounding sexual health and testing.

Founded by entrepreneur and former architect Georgia Di Mattos and NHS sonography technician Bianca Dunne, the platform helps users share their sexual health information with others in a safe and embarrassment-free way.

How does Zults work?

The Zults app is compatible with major NHS healthcare provider Sexual Health London, a discreet sexual health service for Londoners who want to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases at home.

Sexual Health London provides registered users with self-collection kits which they send back to their laboratory for testing after collecting their sample – which can be a urine or vaginal swab, or a blood sample from a finger prick.

Once the samples are tested, users receive their results, which they can then take a screenshot of and send to others upon request. However, this method can cause a lot of embarrassment and shame, making people hesitant to talk openly about their sexual health condition, says Di Mattos.

“It’s a very uncomfortable conversation,” she explains. “But with the app, you don’t have to have that conversation. It answers questions like ‘Have you been tested? How long ago was the test? What infections have you had?'”

“We use technology to help people have these uncomfortable conversations so they no longer have to avoid them altogether.”

After results come back from Sexual Health London’s lab, users can upload them to Zults and share them with others via a web link, QR code or even Bluetooth. The information is stored on a digital card that is both convenient and visually appealing. Di Mattos hopes this will eliminate the need for cold and clinical screenshots.

“If all you can share is a screenshot of a medical report, it can be a bit scary,” she says. “There’s no way to share it in a good way. But with Zults, you can share it really easily and the other person doesn’t need to have the app to see your Zults card, they can access it right away.”

Why are sexually transmitted diseases increasing?

The number of STI cases has increased worldwide in recent years. In England, there were 401,800 newly diagnosed STI cases in 2023, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), a significant increase from 383,789 in the previous year.

However, experts warn that the number could be much higher, as many people are carriers of these infections without knowing it.

Earlier this year, Sir Chris Whitty, England’s chief health officer, told the Women and Equalities Committee that the rising number of sexually transmitted diseases would not decrease unless people stopped believing they could not become infected.

“These are very common diseases, they spread very easily, lots of people who have incredibly conventional sex and love lives get them,” he said. “The danger is that people think only bad people and people who aren’t like their friends get STIs, instead of just saying, ‘Look, this is perfectly normal and it happens a lot.'”

Dunne adds that there is no longer any “fear” of contracting sexually transmitted diseases or other consequences of unprotected sex, such as pregnancy.

“Historically, people have always been afraid of becoming pregnant or contracting HIV. But today we can deal with it, there are contraceptives, for example, and HIV is now really well under control and can be largely prevented.”

“People just don’t worry enough. They think if they catch an infection they can just take antibiotics or get treatment. As a result, condom use has declined.”

But this also means that sexually transmitted diseases are spreading and changing rapidly. Some diseases, such as gonorrhea, whose incidence has tripled in the last year, are developing resistance to antibiotics.

“This strain of so-called ‘super gonorrhea’ is resistant to azithromycin, one of the two antibiotics used to treat the infection. If we can’t treat gonorrhea with antibiotics, it will become a chronic disease for people,” says Dunne.

She hopes Zults will help spread the message to more people about the importance of safer sex and testing.

“We want to attract more providers and get more people to use the service to reduce the number of sexually transmitted diseases. People need to deal with their sexual health and talk about it.”

“We compared it to (digital banking app) Monzo. While it might be embarrassing to ask someone for the £20 they owe you, you can just send a request. This depersonalises the conversation and makes it part of the process.

“Most people find it uncomfortable to talk about money and sex. So Zults takes that same concept and makes it easier for people to have that conversation. And hopefully, if used correctly, it will reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.”

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