Locations of testing centers throughout the country are also noted. Believe it or not, doctors try to talk patients out of getting tested here. Most STD tests are free if you have Croatian mandatory obvezno health insurance. An HIV test is around 36 euros without insurance but is only about 7 euros with state health insurance which you already have if you live in Croatia. As Croatia is a predominantly Catholic country, abstinence is promoted over the use of contraceptives and condoms.
Since there is a push for abstinence, there is a lack of education on how to have safe sex, know if you may have an STD, or what to do when you have it. Many STDs do not show symptoms. During this time, you can still infect others. Education is power and prevents disease. Even kissing, which most people do not consider to be a risky act, can be a means of transferring syphilis, herpes, chlamydia, and gonorrhea.
When it comes to testing, anonymous at-home STD tests are possible. One of the reasons why sexually active people do not go to STD testing is the way the testing is conducted. STDs can be tested in several different ways. Women tend to fear cervix swabs, while men fear the urethral swab.
Other testing methods are throat and rectal swabs, testing blood samples, and urine samples. If you do have an STD, it will be much more uncomfortable than any swab. For women, the cervical swab is mostly taken by a gynecologist and is similar to a Pap smear.
With this method, a doctor can check for chlamydia, ureaplasma, mycoplasma, gonorrhea, syphilis, and HPV. For men, the urinary tract swab is inserted into the urethra up to about 2 centimeters in depth, lightly rotated, and left in the urethra for at least 2 seconds.
