Tinder has added a health safety section to its website offering tips for how “anyone forming a new relationship” can “protect their well-being.” The page includes a link to Healthvana’s free HIV and STD testing site locator and comes in response to an awareness campaign launched by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation against the popular dating app last fall.
Tinder — which boasts 9 billion matches through its service — uses the new section to encourage users to “protect yourself, be open and honest, vaccinate and know your status.” 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.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a dramatic increase in reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis in 2014. Some reports turned an eye toward social media and apps like Tinder as one possible cause.
“The CDC recently reported that sexually transmitted diseases increased dramatically in 2014. We are unfortunately now waging an uphill battle on this front. 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. “This is why it is such welcome news that Tinder will add a Health Safety section with a link to Healthvana, making it easier for people to find testing locations through an easily accessible, modern platform. And we hope to see other dating sites do the same.”
Healthvana is a cloud-based technology platform that aims to improve communication between healthcare providers and their patients. CEO Ramin Bastani said, “Staying healthy in today’s dating world means getting tested regularly, practicing safe sex and having honest conversations about your HIV and STD status.”
Tinder adds Healthvana's STD testing locator! Important health collaboration assisted by @AIDSHealthcarehttps://t.co/29mn8Jfg7G
— Healthvana (@healthvana) January 21, 2016
