Commentary on"The impact of establishing a local-enhanced service for treating sexually transmitted infections in primary care"

Sohal et al have attempted to evaluate the public health and economic impact of incentivised primary care services on sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnoses across a population. In doing so, they have illustrated the difficulties in obtaining information that bedevil the planning of sexual health services in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. A key public health motive for developing such services is the provision of improved access to testing and care. This should be measured in terms of outcomes with potential impact on transmission dynamics, particularly the duration of infectivity.5 How can we tell whether this has been achieved? Measures of access, detailed trends in testing and diagnosis rates and—importantly—measures of partner notification outcomes are essential in making any such assessment. Real challenges still exist describing whole sexual health economies and therefore in comparing them between areas or across time.