DO-IT-YOURSELF testing kits could be given away free by the Government in an attempt to halt the increase in sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Pharmacies, supermarkets, hairdressers and even petrol stations could hand out tests for infections such as chlamydia and gonorrhoea.

Users would send in a urine sample and be told the result by mail, phone or text message. Private companies such as DrThom already offer similar services but they are not free.

There has been a huge upsurge in STDs in recent years. The Government has committed funds to improve clinical services but Caroline Flint, the Public Health Minister, believes that novel ideas must also be tried.

Historically, do-it-yourself testing for STDs has been frowned upon. For HIV it was actually illegal, the law insisting that testing be accompanied by counselling. But such well-meaning legislation has proved a barrier to testing and is seen as unnecessary now that HIV is no longer a death sentence.

Ms Flint said that it was vital to make the issue less of a taboo. But the Department of Health said that it was “still early days” and a lot of research into the accuracy of tests was needed.

A spokeswoman said: “We are trying to normalise testing for STDs and remove the embarrassment factor by making testing available in places like pharmacies. We want to make services more accessible to people and move them outside traditional settings.

“We are starting with chlamydia at this stage as it has no obvious symptoms and we know it affects thousands of people aged 16-24 across England.

“More research needs to be done on whether handing out testing kits for other sexually transmitted infections would be effective. At this stage the tests are not accurate enough for gonorrhoea or herpes.”

The web-based DrThom.com, founded by Dr Thomas Van Every, an STD specialist, says that there has been a huge surge in business in the past six months.

Patients can log on and order a test kit. The patient can then return it, have it analysed by a reputable laboratory and have the results sent by e-mail the same day. For chlamydia and gonorrhoea — the two most common sexually transmitted infections — DrThom provides the treatment free for all those who test positive.

Dr Van Every, who works part-time in an NHS STD clinic in London, said: “We find that a lot of our patients live in rural areas where they are a long way from clinics. They are mostly men in their 30s but we are getting an increasing number of older men in their 50s, who are perhaps divorced and in new relationships. They’re not keen to go to STI clinics and hang about in the waiting room with students.

“We started the website just providing information, but now we do diagnosis and treatment as well. It’s starting to take off.”

DrThom will also provide HIV testing, for which a saliva sample is required, and consultations with doctors either by telephone or e-mail. Dr Van Every said: “There is a crisis in sexual health in this country. True, more money is being spent, but the NHS clinics don’t have the capacity. And demographic changes mean that people have more sexual partners than they used to.”

• Screening for chlamydia has found that, in the 16-24 age group, one in eight people is infected. There were 104,155 new cases in 2004.

  HIV and syphilis are also showing increases, but remain relatively uncommon. Gonorrhoea and genital herpes registered small declines last year. Overall, 700,000 genital infections caused by sexual activity were recorded in 2004.

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