by cadombro

Sexual Health

Sexual Health and HIV

Improving clinical decision making and patient management

The Aquarius team has a breadth of experience in sexual health research and our work in this area has informed international policy and patient care. 

Projects within this field include health economic evaluations, assessing the impact of new innovations such as rapid diagnostics, measuring the burden of disease, evaluating alternative screening strategies and creating interactive tools to inform decisions making around adoption of new technologies.

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by cadombro

How much would community-based screening for chlamydia and gonorrhoea cost?

We collaborated with St George’s, University of London, on a NIHR-funded ‘Test n Treat’ (TnT) study. This study assessed the cost of providing same-day chlamydia and gonorrhoea testing and treatment service at higher education colleges. The paper presenting this work was published in BMC Health Services Research and is now available online.

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by cadombro

Using an mRNA versus DNA test in the English cervical screening programme can save £15m annually and reduce unnecessary testing

The results of our economic evaluation comparing the use of mRNA and DNA assays in screening for cervical cancer in England were published in BMJ Open and are now available online. Results show large cost savings from avoiding unnecessary testing and follow-up, which can benefit women and healthcare services.

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by Elisabeth Adams

Aquarius supports education charity Homework Hotline as they evaluate their tutoring services

At Aquarius we understand the importance of developing a love of learning from an early age. The education we receive at school creates the foundation for later studies and professional development. That’s why we decided to work pro bono with Homework Hotline, an educational charity that provides free after school tutoring to any school aged child in the state of Tennessee, USA.

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by cadombro

Aquarius welcomes new team members

We’re pleased to have welcomed two new members of the Aquarius team since moving to our new office in Tileyard in 2018.

Georgie Weston joined the team in October as an Associate, having recently completed her Master of Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, awarded with Distinction. Georgie has experience working with a range of organisations, including the WHO, health charities, and large pharmaceutical companies where she worked within communications and marketing strategy.

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by cadombro

Could a same day test and treatment service in further education colleges improve uptake of chlamydia testing among young people?

Aquarius were part of a recent feasibility trial looking at whether provision of a same day test and treatment service for chlamydia in further education colleges increased uptake of chlamydia testing and treatment. The results of the trial were published this week in Clinical Microbiology and Infection and are available online.

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by cadombro

Evaluating multi-bug point-of-care tests for diagnosing STIs

New point-of-care (POC) tests are currently being developed which can be used in clinic to simultaneously test for multiple sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In work now published online in BMJ Open, we developed a model to compare three possible strategies for POC STI testing with the current practice of microscopy and lab-based testing. The three strategies were: 1) a dual test for chlamydia and gonorrhoea; 2) a triple test which also tests for M. genitalium, and 3) a quadruple test which also tested for trichomoniasis. The model examined the overall costs, patient benefits and cost-effectiveness of these strategies. The full results of the economic evaluation including the article and supplementary material are available online.

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by cadombro

The NHS wastes more than £7 billion because it’s slow to use new diagnostics

In vitro diagnostic tests

An article authored by Aquarius was published today on the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA) website. The article commissioned jointly by BIVDA and Innovate UK suggests that the NHS could save over £6.9 billion in 5 years by making better use of diagnostic tests already on the market. These savings could have a huge impact in reducing the annual NHS shortfall, which is expected to be £20 billion by 2022.

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