New sexual health campaign launched

Campaign materials including leaflets also discuss issues surrounding youth sexual health and the consequences of having sex.
Ministry of Health acting Public Health Director Dr Doug Lush said in a statement New Zealand had high rates of chlamydia and gonorrhoea and the problem needed to be tackled head on.
"We can pretend that our young people are not sexually active, and watch our STI rates continue to climb, or we can be proactive and realistic and give sexually active young people the tools to protect themselves against chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HIV and other sexually transmitted viruses and infections."
Youth sexual health specialist Dr Sue Bagshaw the campaign message to teenagers to use a condom was vital.
"I see young people with STIs every day. Many of them don't understand just how easy it is to contract and pass on an STI. As the campaign points out, if you pass on an STI to one person, they may pass it on to two people and so on."
Untreated, complications from chlamydia, for example, could include pelvic inflammatory disease, tubal scarring and subsequent pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy and infertility, Dr Bagshaw said.
Information from sexual health clinics showed 74 of 2327 cases of chlamydia in females diagnosed in 2003 were in those aged under 15, while 1063 cases were diagnosed in females 15 to 19.
Over the past five years the number of confirmed chlamydia and gonorrhoea cases diagnosed at the clinics has increased by 65.5 per cent and 57 per cent respectively. In 2003, 188 new cases of HIV infection were notified.
New Zealand AIDS Foundation Executive Director Rachael Le Mesurier said the campaign was timely as HIV rates continued to increase in risk groups such as men who have sex with men , and injecting drug users.
The No Rubba, No Hubba Hubba campaign runs from November 22 until the end of February.
Ref: - The Dominion Post - No Rubba no Hubba Hubba