A Mount Isa medical professional has concerns a rise in unwanted pregnancies and people contracting sexually transmitted infections could result, as less locals access sexual health-related treatment and support.
The community's sexual health clinic has experienced a steep decline in people accessing services since the coronavirus pandemic was declared, with more people adhering to social distancing requirements and staying home.
Nurse Practitioner Dale Thompson said while it's pleasing the community is taking the pandemic seriously, the number of people visiting the clinic had dropped to concerning levels.
He said the clinic was taking about 30 appointments per day prior to the pandemic, but that had fallen to around only three in recent weeks.
"One of the poorer outcomes...would be that as things ease up we see a rise and spike in sexually transmitted infections and a rise in pregnancies," he said.
"It would be terrible to see a spike in HIV cases and hepatitis cases because people don't come to collect their needles and syringes here or they don't come for the testing that they need in a timely way.
"[That result would only be] because people are under such duress that they didn't avail themselves of the options that were available in time."
Treatment can't wait
Mr Thompson said in recent days the number of people accessing treatment had slowly started rising again.
But he said he's worried locals will generally be deterred from accessing services due to them being face-to-face and fearing it could put them at risk of contracting COVID-19.
"We're still encouraging people to come in and get tested for sexually transmitted infections and women who need to talk about options related to pregnancy. Those sort of things can't wait," Mr Thompson said.
"[For example] people who have HIV, or are at risk of getting HIV, they need to get their health attended to now."
Clinic makes safety a priority
The Mount Isa Sexual Health Clinic has made some changes to their operations and have put social distancing measures in place, where possible.
Mr Thompson said the clinic is asking people to ring and make appointments prior to coming on-site.
"Our physical examination and specimen collections have to be done in person, and it's being done down here [at the clinic]," he said.
"[By doing that] we remove the risk from the hundreds of wonderful staff working at the hospital.
"We also offer a lot of advice and education over the phone."
