While sex is a very natural activity for humans, it's not openly talked about by couples and certainly not by those who are still in the dating stage.
A healthcare company, however, believes that sex and sexually transmitted infections should be faced head-on and addressed early. Thus, they developed an app called Healthvana.
Healthvana is a very simple app. It starts out by having yourself tested for any STD in a medical lab. The lab then sends the results through the app. You can then show the data to your partner as proof that you have not contracted the disease. If he or she also has the app, you can forward the same results to his or her phone.
The idea of showing somebody your STD records may be awkward or uncomfortable, but the statistics on STDs are grimmer. In a report by the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, more than 100 million men and women contracted a sexually transmitted infection in 2008, over 15 million of which were new cases. In 2010, the U.S. government spent around $16 billion as healthcare costs. These infections were also more prevalent among those who belong to 15-24 age group.
Some of the most common types of infections include human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus, trichomoniasis, syphilis, Chlamydia, type 2 herpes simplex, and gonorrhea.
The app may also be used to facilitate a more comfortable doctor-patient relationship. Traditionally, labs inform the patients of the results only when they come back positive. Otherwise, the patient may never know the actual results.
With the app, they will have their own records, which can be added into their healthcare data. Patients can also spare themselves the hassle and embarrassment of requesting the same results over and over again.
Nevertheless, the patients or app users are still recommended to use protection to prevent infection, especially since the app can show only the most recent test result.
The app is available for free in iTunes. It also helps patients find the closest testing area as well as provides some sex and STI education.
