Sexually transmitted infections are soaring in Andalucia, and after navigating the region’s sexual health system myself, I cannot say I am surprised.

I have always taken sexual health seriously and I like to get routinely tested throughout the year, regardless of whether I have symptoms.

So when I moved to Andalucia full time, I was shocked to discover just how difficult that could be.

Coming from the UK, I had been accustomed to specialist sexual health services, traditionally known as GUM clinics, where you can be tested confidentially by professionals.

The NHS still operates specialist clinics offering STI and HIV testing, treatment, contraception and, at many centres, PrEP and PEP.

Some tests can provide results on the same day, while home-testing services are also available in many areas.

Why am I talking to my GP about this?

In Andalucia, the route can be remarkably different, as millions are forced to go the emergency department or their family doctor.

Why should someone seeking a routine sexual health screening have to explain their sex life to the same family doctor they might visit about a chest infection or dodgy knee?

And more importantly, why are we expecting every GP to be an expert in sexual health?

Sexual health requires specific knowledge and an environment in which patients feel comfortable being completely candid.

Some, as I have heard first-hand, encounter professionals whose knowledge of HIV-prevention strategies is alarmingly limited.

One gay friend in Jerez went to his GP specifically to ask about PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) and says the doctor had never even heard of it.

PrEP is one of the most important breakthroughs in HIV prevention of recent decades. When taken as prescribed, it reduces the risk of acquiring HIV through sex by about 99%.

Yet someone actively trying to protect himself and his sexual partners went to his doctor and found himself having to explain what the medication was, which is simply not good enough.

And even once you know about PrEP, accessing it through the Spanish public system can be far more cumbersome than it needs to be.

You have to make an appointment at one of the few hospitals where it is available, and then wait months to be given a date. And that is just to be assessed and tested to see if you can take the drug.

Compare that with England, where the NHS explicitly lists PrEP among the services offered by sexual health clinics, with some offering the medication on the same day.

Prevention shouldn’t require an obstacle course

If a young person knows they are at increased risk of HIV and actively asks for a drug capable of reducing that risk by more than 99%, the healthcare system should be rolling out the red carpet.

Instead, depending on where you live, accessing specialist care can involve referrals, hospital appointments and waiting.

Every additional barrier creates another opportunity for somebody to give up.

And sexual health is one field where delay has consequences not just for the individual but for everybody they subsequently sleep with.

Andalucia has an amazing health system in general, but it is crying out for a much stronger network of dedicated, accessible sexual health clinics, where people can walk through the door without embarrassment and without first convincing a general practitioner that they need to be there.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.