A new campaign has been launched across Bradford to tackle the growing number of people contracting chlamydia.

The sexually transmitted disease, which can rob women of their fertility, affects at least 13 per cent of people in the district.

Bradford District Health Promotion Service has now introduced a computer screen saver campaign aimed at schools and youth services.

Derek Simmonds, of the health promotion service, said: "The aim is to get young people to think carefully about their sexual behaviour and safety. By using new technology we are keeping up with the times, which is very important if we want to get the kids' attention."

The screen savers will feature the same cartoon characters used in a high-profile bus advertising campaign run by the health promotions service two years ago. They will appear in a cartoon strip talking through speech bubbles.

Mr Simmonds said the team is also planning to launch a second run of the posters.

Dr Chris Butler of the genito-urinary medicine clinic at St Luke's Hospital, Bradford, who takes monthly updates of chlamydia infection rates in Bradford, said: "At the moment the number of cases of chlamydia in both males and females is quite high. Looking at the curve, the general trend is up and cases are rising fairly steeply."

The GUM clinic applied to be part of a national screening programme set up by the Medical Research Council but was not taken on as one of the ten pilot projects. Despite this set back, it is running its own mini-screening programme for men at the Information Shop for Young People on Broadway between 2pm and 4pm on Tuesdays.

Though women are more susceptible to the long-term effects of chlamydia, Dr Butler stressed the importance of screening men.

He said: "You can treat the woman as often as you want, but she can still go out and have unprotected sex with an infected man and get it again. Of course we mustn't forget that, if untreated, men are at risk of infertility as well."

Males under 25 can get tested at the Information Shop on Thursdays from 10am to 5.30pm. The clinic also offers a contraception service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

For more information call (01274) 365232 for women or (01274) 365231 for men.