Technology to Inform Partners about Possible STD Infection Now a National Service

InSPOT, a website to help people who are infected with STDs inform their sex partners about testing and treatment options using playful, serious, and humorous e-cards that link to free and low-cost testing services, is now available throughout the U.S.

The service was first launched by ISIS in 2004 in response to a significant rise in syphilis in San Francisco and continues to be "an innovative way to empower people who are diagnosed with a STD take charge of their own sex lives". The site currently has about 15,000 users annually in 13 states and 11 cities, and with this national expansion, ISIS projects that users will jump to nearly 150,000 in 40 states and 25 cities by 2013.  


Partner notification plays a significant role in reducing STD rates by finding and treating people who have had contact with an infected person before they can pass the disease onto others. InSPOT provides a clever, easy, inexpensive way for people to notify their partners, especially if they are uncomfortable having a face-to-face or phone conversation about this often embarrassing topic, or if they don't know their partner very well. 


Christianne Johnson
Program Manager
Partnership for Prevention