Tinder to up its in-app sexual health awareness

You can now find a free STD locator from Healthvana Company on the company’s website under the health and safety section. The CDC also noted, the majority of these infections are affecting young people – the demographic that is on their mobile phones all day long,”said Whitney Engeran Cordova, Senior Director, Public Health Division for AIDS Healthcare Foundation”.

The Health and Safety page ends a dispute that’s been going on for months. Grindr, the gay-focused app mentioned in the AHF billboard campaign, responded by cancelling AHF’s paid advertising campaign on Grindr for free STD testing services.

Tinder is launching a new Health Safety section on its website complete with an HIV and STD testing site locator.

Tinder may have been a godsend for single people, but it has had its critics who have accused it of leading to rise in STDs, which are at record levels in the US. That last part includes the link to Healthvana’s site and is a crucial part of the action AHF was looking for when it used billboards and ads to target Tinder. As a result, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation has made the decision to remove the billboards.

Tinder, a dating application known for its swiping component, is giving users access to testing for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) right in the palms of their hands.

Though the link between Tinder’s popularity and the increase in STD rates is more speculative than the AHF claims it is, spreading the message about safe sex and better communication between partners surely can’t hurt.

“Staying healthy in today’s dating world means getting tested regularly, practicing safe sex and having honest conversations about your HIV and STD status”.

“While the CDC, [which] conducted the largest and most credible study on the topic, has never identified any connection that supports the idea that Tinder usage correlates with, let alone causes, an increase in STDs, we’re of course in favour of organisations that provide public education resources on the topic”.

There’s speculation if dating apps are the culprit behind the increase – but for a massively popular app like Tinder, which has led to over 9 billion matches, it certainly doesn’t hurt to promote STD awareness and testing.

Additionally, AHF asked Healthvana to join the alliance.