Crowdsourcing as a public health intervention for sexually transmitted diseases

• Published in: The Lancet infectious diseases Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 7 - 8
• Main Authors: Charurat, Man, Omari, Habib
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Ltd 01-01-2019; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: China; Chlamydia; Crowdsourcing; Disease transmission; Donations; Gonorrhea; Health promotion; HIV; Homosexuality, Male; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Infections; Infectious diseases; Innovations; Intelligence; Intervention; Male; Public Health; Sexual and Gender Minorities; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; STD; China
• ISSN: 1473-3099; 1474-4457
• DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(18)30653-4

Studies are increasingly exploring the use of crowdsourcing, a practice by which information for a project is obtained by soliciting the services of a large number of people to address public health challenges and advance health service research. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) increase the risk of HIV acquisition and transmission, particularly among high-risk populations of men who have sex with men (MSM).1 Periodic STI testing among MSM is, therefore, crucial to prevent ongoing transmission. Collective intelligence is the scale-up capacity of large groups and the network structure to help foster large-scale interaction.3 In this study, community volunteers helped organise the programme and each participant wrote a message on a postcard for participants who would benefit from this donation in the future.