US company to launch 'safe sex passport'
A man surfs the web at an internet cafe. A US company is poised to launch the world's first safe sex passport, aimed at giving users of dating and social networking websites extra "information protection," the man behind the idea said Wednesday.(AFP/File/Denis Sinyakov)WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US company is poised to launch the world's first safe sex passport, aimed at giving users of dating and social networking websites extra "information protection," the man behind the idea said Wednesday.
"Some years ago I met an individual who had intercourse with someone they met online, who didn't disclose that they had an STD" or sexually transmitted disease, Gonzalo Paternoster of Florida-based SSP BioAnalytics said ahead of the launch of the Safe Sex Passport on December 1, World AIDS Day.
"The idea popped into my head that people know but don't tell the truth, and we needed an independent way to verify someone's health status," he told AFP.
The Safe Sex Passport will be available -- at a cost -- to anyone over the age of 18 who goes online and orders the credit-card-size article.
"As soon as you order your card, you are referred to an affiliated laboratory where you can get tested for five major STDs," Paternoster said.
Card holders are tested for HIV, genital herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis
"When you go to the test facility, you will have to show your official ID to make sure you are the person who owns the safe sex passport.
"The test results are tied to the card. So let's say now you meet someone: they can call a phone number and get the test results and test date for you, plus identification information so that they know for sure that you are really the person who was tested," he said.
"In the old days, you had to take someone's word for it when they said they had been tested and were in the clear. Now you can ask for proof."
Subscribers will also be provided with virtual health certificates, which can be posted on their online dating or MySpace profile page.
Nearly 15,000 people and several dating websites have already expressed an interest in the safe sex passports and online health certificates, Paternoster said.
The biggest age group showing an interest in acquiring the card are aged between 27 and 47, he said.
"A lot of them are divorced or have broken up after a long-term relationship, and now they're back in the dating world and they're terrified."
Showing posts with label Sex. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sex. Show all posts
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Report: Sex main cause of HIV in China
Report: Sex main cause of HIV in China
China's Health Minister Chen Zhu speaks during a press conference on AIDS in China held in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007. The number of people estimated to be living with HIV in China has risen to 700,000 and continues to be a challenge among high-risk populations, according to a report released Thursday by the U.N. and the Chinese government. The Chinese characters at right read 'Health.' (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)BEIJING - Sex has overtaken drug use as the main cause of HIV infections in China, leading to worries the disease may spread outside of high-risk groups into the general population, according to experts and a report released Thursday.
There were an estimated 50,000 new cases of HIV in 2007 taking the total to 700,000 people living with the virus in China, said the report issued jointly by UNAIDS and a committee of the State Council, China's Cabinet.
Despite a fall in the rate of new cases from when data was last collected in 2005, infections were still spreading and sex — not intravenous drug use — was now the main form of transmission, Chinese Minister of Health Chen Zhu said at a news conference.
"China's HIV epidemic remains one of low prevalence overall but with pockets of high infection among specific sub-populations," he said. "A number of core challenges remain."
Prostitutes and gay men were singled out for risky behavior that was contributing to most of the new cases, Chen said. Some 60 percent of prostitutes do not regularly use condoms, according to the report, which was to be officially released Saturday to coincide with World AIDS Day.
New cases were rising among these groups. Beijing must ensure transmission from high-risk populations, "can be stopped and held down, because there is substantial potential for spreading," said Bernhard Schwartlander, country coordinator for UNAIDS in China.
The current rate of infection was less than 1 percent of China's overall population, but put as many as 50 million others at risk now that the main form of transmission was sex, he said.
Prostitution is widespread in China, even though it is officially illegal. Raising concerns are the many migrant workers who visit brothels, exposing themselves, their spouses and other partners to infection.
HIV gained a foothold in China largely due to unsanitary blood plasma-buying schemes and tainted transfusions in hospitals. Chen told reporters Thursday that these practices had been "effectively contained," but did not elaborate.
After years of denying that AIDS was a problem, Chinese leaders have shifted gears dramatically in recent years, confronting the disease more openly and promising anonymous testing, free treatment for the poor and a ban on discrimination against people with the virus.
The topic, however, still remains very sensitive and authorities regularly crack down on activists and patients seeking more support and rights.
Stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and discrimination against people with the disease remains high in some communities and workplaces, the report said. This leads to high-risk people not getting testing or admitting they have HIV, aiding its spread, the report said.
Chen welcomed the work of civil groups and mass organizations that have reached out to those with HIV/AIDS. Celebrity awareness of the disease has also helped reduce stigma and increase awareness, he said.
"The report shows how far the government has come in responding to HIV," said Ed Settle, HIV/AIDS Program Manager for UNDP China.
"They've come to the realization that high risk groups need more attention and they recognize that civil society groups have more of a role in reaching out to the more vulnerable."
But many organizations have run into difficulties getting proper legal registration, the report noted. China has long been wary of NGOs, fearing they might be acting as agents for foreign governments or encouraging defiance of the Communist Party.
The number of officially reported HIV cases in China remained only 223,501 — far lower than the estimated total, probably in part because of reluctance to seek testing. The figure includes those who developed AIDS and those who died from the disease.
In 2004, China scaled back the estimated number of people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, from nearly 1 million to 840,000, and then further lowered the figure to 650,000 in 2005.Experts have said the figures are probably accurate because they are in line with a change in the way data are collected.Global health officials said earlier this month that the estimated number of people infected with HIV worldwide fell from almost 40 million last year to about 33.2 million this year, the result of a different methodology which shows that the AIDS pandemic is losing momentum.The old numbers were largely based on how many infected pregnant women were at prenatal clinics, as well as projecting the AIDS rates of certain high-risk groups like drug users to the entire population at risk. Officials said those figures were flawed, and are now incorporating more data like national household surveys.
China's Health Minister Chen Zhu speaks during a press conference on AIDS in China held in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007. The number of people estimated to be living with HIV in China has risen to 700,000 and continues to be a challenge among high-risk populations, according to a report released Thursday by the U.N. and the Chinese government. The Chinese characters at right read 'Health.' (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)BEIJING - Sex has overtaken drug use as the main cause of HIV infections in China, leading to worries the disease may spread outside of high-risk groups into the general population, according to experts and a report released Thursday.
There were an estimated 50,000 new cases of HIV in 2007 taking the total to 700,000 people living with the virus in China, said the report issued jointly by UNAIDS and a committee of the State Council, China's Cabinet.
Despite a fall in the rate of new cases from when data was last collected in 2005, infections were still spreading and sex — not intravenous drug use — was now the main form of transmission, Chinese Minister of Health Chen Zhu said at a news conference.
"China's HIV epidemic remains one of low prevalence overall but with pockets of high infection among specific sub-populations," he said. "A number of core challenges remain."
Prostitutes and gay men were singled out for risky behavior that was contributing to most of the new cases, Chen said. Some 60 percent of prostitutes do not regularly use condoms, according to the report, which was to be officially released Saturday to coincide with World AIDS Day.
New cases were rising among these groups. Beijing must ensure transmission from high-risk populations, "can be stopped and held down, because there is substantial potential for spreading," said Bernhard Schwartlander, country coordinator for UNAIDS in China.
The current rate of infection was less than 1 percent of China's overall population, but put as many as 50 million others at risk now that the main form of transmission was sex, he said.
Prostitution is widespread in China, even though it is officially illegal. Raising concerns are the many migrant workers who visit brothels, exposing themselves, their spouses and other partners to infection.
HIV gained a foothold in China largely due to unsanitary blood plasma-buying schemes and tainted transfusions in hospitals. Chen told reporters Thursday that these practices had been "effectively contained," but did not elaborate.
After years of denying that AIDS was a problem, Chinese leaders have shifted gears dramatically in recent years, confronting the disease more openly and promising anonymous testing, free treatment for the poor and a ban on discrimination against people with the virus.
The topic, however, still remains very sensitive and authorities regularly crack down on activists and patients seeking more support and rights.
Stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and discrimination against people with the disease remains high in some communities and workplaces, the report said. This leads to high-risk people not getting testing or admitting they have HIV, aiding its spread, the report said.
Chen welcomed the work of civil groups and mass organizations that have reached out to those with HIV/AIDS. Celebrity awareness of the disease has also helped reduce stigma and increase awareness, he said.
"The report shows how far the government has come in responding to HIV," said Ed Settle, HIV/AIDS Program Manager for UNDP China.
"They've come to the realization that high risk groups need more attention and they recognize that civil society groups have more of a role in reaching out to the more vulnerable."
But many organizations have run into difficulties getting proper legal registration, the report noted. China has long been wary of NGOs, fearing they might be acting as agents for foreign governments or encouraging defiance of the Communist Party.
The number of officially reported HIV cases in China remained only 223,501 — far lower than the estimated total, probably in part because of reluctance to seek testing. The figure includes those who developed AIDS and those who died from the disease.
In 2004, China scaled back the estimated number of people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, from nearly 1 million to 840,000, and then further lowered the figure to 650,000 in 2005.Experts have said the figures are probably accurate because they are in line with a change in the way data are collected.Global health officials said earlier this month that the estimated number of people infected with HIV worldwide fell from almost 40 million last year to about 33.2 million this year, the result of a different methodology which shows that the AIDS pandemic is losing momentum.The old numbers were largely based on how many infected pregnant women were at prenatal clinics, as well as projecting the AIDS rates of certain high-risk groups like drug users to the entire population at risk. Officials said those figures were flawed, and are now incorporating more data like national household surveys.
Monday, December 24, 2007
China launches first major safe sex TV campaign
China launches first major safe sex TV campaign
A Chinese man checks condoms at the AIDS-awareness display at an exhibition in Shanghai March 2, 2006. China rolled out its first major television campaign on Thursday to promote condom use to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS, now mostly being transmitted by sex in the world's most populous country. (Stringer/Reuters)BEIJING (Reuters) - China rolled out its first majortelevision campaign on Thursday to promote condom use to fightthe spread of HIV/AIDS, now mostly being transmitted by sex inthe world's most populous country.
The short public service announcements will mainly be shownon screens in buses, trains and planes, on the Internet, inentertainment venues, and on some state television channels.
They will target the young and China's huge floatingpopulation of migrant workers, using celebrities including HongKong action film star Jackie Chan and Chinese folk singer PengLiyuan, wife of rising political star Xi Jinping.
"It marks a new era in talking frankly and candidly aboutthese issues, which used to be avoided," said UNDP countrydirector Subinay Nandy.
"This initiative is very timely and is very valid for theepidemic situation in China today,"he told a news conference.
China will have an estimated 50,000 new HIV infections in2007, compared with 70,000 in 2005, according to a report bythe State Council (Cabinet) and the United Nations last week.
That means the country will have about 700,000 peopleliving with HIV/AIDS this year, up from an earlier estimate of650,000.
The new education push is designed to slow that growthfurther.
The ads, created by Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon, who won a2007 Oscar for a documentary about AIDS in China, show thestars meeting or watching young people in a variety ofsituations, and saying: "Life is too good, please protectyourself."
A message flashes up saying that sex is now the main routeof infection in China and the young are particularlyvulnerable, adding: "Using condoms can reduce the risk ofcontracting AIDS."
While the ad may appear timid compared to ones usedelsewhere in the world, Chinese actor Pu Cunxin said it markeda breakthrough that sex was now able to be discussed publicly.
"That this appears on television is a very big advance," hesaid. "But the question of sex and condoms is still taboo. Sexis not bad. It's something that should be talked about."
An attempt in 1999 to promote condom use on television waspulled almost at once for breaking a legal ban on condomadvertisements, on the grounds they might promote promiscuity.
Other attempts have similarly foundered.
Condom use in China among vulnerable groups such asprostitutes and men who have sex with men remains low.
While the government no longer views AIDS as a shamefuldisease imported from the decadent West, and has taken a moreproactive approach, problems such as ignorance abouttransmission and discrimination against those living withHIV/AIDS remain.
(Editing by Nick Macfie and Roger Crabb)
A Chinese man checks condoms at the AIDS-awareness display at an exhibition in Shanghai March 2, 2006. China rolled out its first major television campaign on Thursday to promote condom use to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS, now mostly being transmitted by sex in the world's most populous country. (Stringer/Reuters)BEIJING (Reuters) - China rolled out its first majortelevision campaign on Thursday to promote condom use to fightthe spread of HIV/AIDS, now mostly being transmitted by sex inthe world's most populous country.
The short public service announcements will mainly be shownon screens in buses, trains and planes, on the Internet, inentertainment venues, and on some state television channels.
They will target the young and China's huge floatingpopulation of migrant workers, using celebrities including HongKong action film star Jackie Chan and Chinese folk singer PengLiyuan, wife of rising political star Xi Jinping.
"It marks a new era in talking frankly and candidly aboutthese issues, which used to be avoided," said UNDP countrydirector Subinay Nandy.
"This initiative is very timely and is very valid for theepidemic situation in China today,"he told a news conference.
China will have an estimated 50,000 new HIV infections in2007, compared with 70,000 in 2005, according to a report bythe State Council (Cabinet) and the United Nations last week.
That means the country will have about 700,000 peopleliving with HIV/AIDS this year, up from an earlier estimate of650,000.
The new education push is designed to slow that growthfurther.
The ads, created by Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon, who won a2007 Oscar for a documentary about AIDS in China, show thestars meeting or watching young people in a variety ofsituations, and saying: "Life is too good, please protectyourself."
A message flashes up saying that sex is now the main routeof infection in China and the young are particularlyvulnerable, adding: "Using condoms can reduce the risk ofcontracting AIDS."
While the ad may appear timid compared to ones usedelsewhere in the world, Chinese actor Pu Cunxin said it markeda breakthrough that sex was now able to be discussed publicly.
"That this appears on television is a very big advance," hesaid. "But the question of sex and condoms is still taboo. Sexis not bad. It's something that should be talked about."
An attempt in 1999 to promote condom use on television waspulled almost at once for breaking a legal ban on condomadvertisements, on the grounds they might promote promiscuity.
Other attempts have similarly foundered.
Condom use in China among vulnerable groups such asprostitutes and men who have sex with men remains low.
While the government no longer views AIDS as a shamefuldisease imported from the decadent West, and has taken a moreproactive approach, problems such as ignorance abouttransmission and discrimination against those living withHIV/AIDS remain.
(Editing by Nick Macfie and Roger Crabb)
Navy chaplain gets 2 years for sex crime
Navy chaplain gets 2 years for sex crime
QUANTICO, Va. - An HIV-positive Navy chaplain was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday after admitting he had sex with an Air Force officer without disclosing he had the virus and that he forced himself on a Naval Academy midshipman.
Lt. Cmdr. John Thomas Lee, 42, of Burke, Va., pleaded guilty to forcible sodomy with the midshipman, aggravated assault on the officer and other crimes after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors at a court-martial at Quantico Marine Corps Base, south of Washington.
Marine spokesman Maj. Tim Keefe said after Thursday's hearing that nobody is known to have contracted HIV from Lee.
Lee, a Catholic priest, was assigned to the academy from 2003 to 2006 and later to Quantico. He was relieved of his duties in June.
The forcible sodomy occurred in the fall of 2004, when the midshipman was in his junior year. The midshipman, who was not identified, had previously received counseling from Lee, and said he allowed Lee to perform oral sex on him because he was intimidated by Lee's status as a chaplain.
"This was a priest. This was a guy who knew all of my darkest secrets," the victim, now a Navy ensign, testified during the trial's sentencing phase.
Lee, who learned that he has the virus that causes AIDS in 2005, admitted he had sex the following year with an Air Force lieutenant colonel at the colonel's home in Fairfax. Lee said he met the man on the Internet and lied when directly questioned about his HIV status.
"I said everything was OK," Lee told the judge.
Because the sexual contact with the officer included a risk of grave physical danger or death due to Lee's HIV status, it is considered an aggravated assault under military law.
Lee also pleaded guilty to violating a lawful order, committing an indecent act, fraternization, conduct unbecoming an officer and consensual sodomy.
Navy authorities launched an investigation earlier this year after receiving a complaint from a Marine corporal at Quantico. The corporal, who has since left the Marines, testified that he sought counseling from the chaplain, who quickly steered conversations to sex acts and eventually persuaded the corporal to take pornographic pictures of Lee.
Lee looked straight ahead and avoided eye contact with the witnesses during their testimony. "I'd like to apologize for all the harm I have done," he said before he was sentenced.
Lee was ordained as a priest in 1993 and began serving as a military chaplain in 1996. His faculties to function as a priest were revoked in June, after an accuser came forward, said Julia Rota, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of the Military Services, which oversees Catholic priests in the military.
Under the consensual sodomy charge, Lee admitted a long-term sexual relationship with a Navy ensign who lived with him for the last year in his Burke home.
Navy spokeswoman Lt. Candice Tresch said it would be up to the ensign's local command authorities to decide whether to pursue consensual sodomy charges against the ensign. Air Force spokesman Capt. Tom Wenz said he could not speculate on whether the Air Force colonel might face charges.
The plea agreement limits Lee's time in the brig to two years provided he complies with all conditions of the deal. One condition is a requirement that he inform medical authorities within the next 30 days of all his sexual contacts since learning his HIV-positive status.
QUANTICO, Va. - An HIV-positive Navy chaplain was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday after admitting he had sex with an Air Force officer without disclosing he had the virus and that he forced himself on a Naval Academy midshipman.
Lt. Cmdr. John Thomas Lee, 42, of Burke, Va., pleaded guilty to forcible sodomy with the midshipman, aggravated assault on the officer and other crimes after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors at a court-martial at Quantico Marine Corps Base, south of Washington.
Marine spokesman Maj. Tim Keefe said after Thursday's hearing that nobody is known to have contracted HIV from Lee.
Lee, a Catholic priest, was assigned to the academy from 2003 to 2006 and later to Quantico. He was relieved of his duties in June.
The forcible sodomy occurred in the fall of 2004, when the midshipman was in his junior year. The midshipman, who was not identified, had previously received counseling from Lee, and said he allowed Lee to perform oral sex on him because he was intimidated by Lee's status as a chaplain.
"This was a priest. This was a guy who knew all of my darkest secrets," the victim, now a Navy ensign, testified during the trial's sentencing phase.
Lee, who learned that he has the virus that causes AIDS in 2005, admitted he had sex the following year with an Air Force lieutenant colonel at the colonel's home in Fairfax. Lee said he met the man on the Internet and lied when directly questioned about his HIV status.
"I said everything was OK," Lee told the judge.
Because the sexual contact with the officer included a risk of grave physical danger or death due to Lee's HIV status, it is considered an aggravated assault under military law.
Lee also pleaded guilty to violating a lawful order, committing an indecent act, fraternization, conduct unbecoming an officer and consensual sodomy.
Navy authorities launched an investigation earlier this year after receiving a complaint from a Marine corporal at Quantico. The corporal, who has since left the Marines, testified that he sought counseling from the chaplain, who quickly steered conversations to sex acts and eventually persuaded the corporal to take pornographic pictures of Lee.
Lee looked straight ahead and avoided eye contact with the witnesses during their testimony. "I'd like to apologize for all the harm I have done," he said before he was sentenced.
Lee was ordained as a priest in 1993 and began serving as a military chaplain in 1996. His faculties to function as a priest were revoked in June, after an accuser came forward, said Julia Rota, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of the Military Services, which oversees Catholic priests in the military.
Under the consensual sodomy charge, Lee admitted a long-term sexual relationship with a Navy ensign who lived with him for the last year in his Burke home.
Navy spokeswoman Lt. Candice Tresch said it would be up to the ensign's local command authorities to decide whether to pursue consensual sodomy charges against the ensign. Air Force spokesman Capt. Tom Wenz said he could not speculate on whether the Air Force colonel might face charges.
The plea agreement limits Lee's time in the brig to two years provided he complies with all conditions of the deal. One condition is a requirement that he inform medical authorities within the next 30 days of all his sexual contacts since learning his HIV-positive status.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Sex ed in schools may help delay teen sex
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Sex education in school mayencourage teenagers to put off having sexual intercourse, theresults of a U.S. government study suggests.
The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of AdolescentHealth, did not determine if the type of program matters --that is, abstinence-only versus more-comprehensive programs.
However, the findings do suggest that having some form ofsex education helps delay teen sex, according to theresearchers, from the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
In a national survey of more than 2,000 adolescents between15 and 19 years old, the researchers found that teens who hadsex ed in school were more likely to put off sex until at leastage 15. Furthermore, boys who received sex ed were less likelyto have started having sex at all.
"Sex education seems to be working," lead researcher Dr.Trisha E. Mueller, an epidemiologist with the CDC, said in astatement.
In particular, she noted, some of the greatest benefitswere seen in the teens who may need them the most -- urban,African-American girls. In this group of girls, those who'dreceived sex education were 91 percent less likely to have hadsex before the age of 15.
Overall, male study participants who'd received sexeducation were 71 percent less likely to have had sex beforeage 15 than those who'd had no formal sex ed. Among femaleparticipants, sex ed reduced those odds by 59 percent.
Male respondents who'd had sex education were also morelikely to say they would used birth control the first time theyhad sex. No similar effect was seen among girls.
There were certain groups of teens who did not seem tobenefit from sex education. Girls from rural areas were morelikely to have sex, and white and Hispanic girls who eventuallydropped out of high school were less likely to delay sex. Thereasons are unclear, according to Mueller's team, and thefindings may be due to chance because the numbers of studyparticipants in these groups were small.
Overall, the researchers conclude that "sex educationprovides youth with the knowledge and skills to make healthyand informed decisions about sex, and this study indicates thatsex education is making a difference in the sexual behaviors ofAmerican youth."
SOURCE: Journal of Adolescent Health, January 2008.
The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of AdolescentHealth, did not determine if the type of program matters --that is, abstinence-only versus more-comprehensive programs.
However, the findings do suggest that having some form ofsex education helps delay teen sex, according to theresearchers, from the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
In a national survey of more than 2,000 adolescents between15 and 19 years old, the researchers found that teens who hadsex ed in school were more likely to put off sex until at leastage 15. Furthermore, boys who received sex ed were less likelyto have started having sex at all.
"Sex education seems to be working," lead researcher Dr.Trisha E. Mueller, an epidemiologist with the CDC, said in astatement.
In particular, she noted, some of the greatest benefitswere seen in the teens who may need them the most -- urban,African-American girls. In this group of girls, those who'dreceived sex education were 91 percent less likely to have hadsex before the age of 15.
Overall, male study participants who'd received sexeducation were 71 percent less likely to have had sex beforeage 15 than those who'd had no formal sex ed. Among femaleparticipants, sex ed reduced those odds by 59 percent.
Male respondents who'd had sex education were also morelikely to say they would used birth control the first time theyhad sex. No similar effect was seen among girls.
There were certain groups of teens who did not seem tobenefit from sex education. Girls from rural areas were morelikely to have sex, and white and Hispanic girls who eventuallydropped out of high school were less likely to delay sex. Thereasons are unclear, according to Mueller's team, and thefindings may be due to chance because the numbers of studyparticipants in these groups were small.
Overall, the researchers conclude that "sex educationprovides youth with the knowledge and skills to make healthyand informed decisions about sex, and this study indicates thatsex education is making a difference in the sexual behaviors ofAmerican youth."
SOURCE: Journal of Adolescent Health, January 2008.
Sex education found to help teenagers delay sex
Undate file photo shows a couple in Russia. Teenagers who have had formal sex education are far more likely to put off having sex, contradicting earlier studies on the effectiveness of such programs, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. (SergeiKarpukhin/Reuters)CHICAGO (Reuters) - Teenagers who have had formal sexeducation are far more likely to put off having sex,contradicting earlier studies on the effectiveness of suchprograms, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.
They found teenage boys who had sex education in schoolwere 71 percent less likely to have intercourse before age 15,and teen girls who had sex education were 59 percent lesslikely to have sex before age 15.
Sex education also increased the likelihood that teen boyswould use contraceptives the first time they had sex, accordingto the study by researchers at the U.S. Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention, which was published in the Journal ofAdolescent Health.
"Sex education seems to be working," Trisha Mueller, anepidemiologist with the CDC who led the study, said in astatement. "It seems to be especially effective for populationsthat are usually at high risk."
Mueller's team looked at a 2002 national survey of 2,019teens aged 15 to 19.
They found teen boys who had sex education in school werenearly three times more likely to use birth control the firsttime they had intercourse. But sex education appeared to haveno effect on whether teen girls used birth control, theresearchers found.
Black teenage girls who had sex education in school were 91percent less likely to have sex before age 15.
The researchers did not evaluate the content of sexeducation programs, including whether students were taughtabout contraception or about abstinence only.
Earlier studies, which relied on data from the 1970sthrough the 1990s, suggested sex education did little topersuade teens to delay sex.
The researchers said they think the difference may be thatsex education in the United States is now more widespread andis being taught at earlier ages.
"Unlike many previous studies, our results suggest that sexeducation before first sex protects youth from engaging insexual intercourse at an early age," they wrote.
(Editing by Maggie Fox and Xavier Briand)
They found teenage boys who had sex education in schoolwere 71 percent less likely to have intercourse before age 15,and teen girls who had sex education were 59 percent lesslikely to have sex before age 15.
Sex education also increased the likelihood that teen boyswould use contraceptives the first time they had sex, accordingto the study by researchers at the U.S. Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention, which was published in the Journal ofAdolescent Health.
"Sex education seems to be working," Trisha Mueller, anepidemiologist with the CDC who led the study, said in astatement. "It seems to be especially effective for populationsthat are usually at high risk."
Mueller's team looked at a 2002 national survey of 2,019teens aged 15 to 19.
They found teen boys who had sex education in school werenearly three times more likely to use birth control the firsttime they had intercourse. But sex education appeared to haveno effect on whether teen girls used birth control, theresearchers found.
Black teenage girls who had sex education in school were 91percent less likely to have sex before age 15.
The researchers did not evaluate the content of sexeducation programs, including whether students were taughtabout contraception or about abstinence only.
Earlier studies, which relied on data from the 1970sthrough the 1990s, suggested sex education did little topersuade teens to delay sex.
The researchers said they think the difference may be thatsex education in the United States is now more widespread andis being taught at earlier ages.
"Unlike many previous studies, our results suggest that sexeducation before first sex protects youth from engaging insexual intercourse at an early age," they wrote.
(Editing by Maggie Fox and Xavier Briand)
Risky sex returns syphilis to Europe
LONDON - Syphilis is back: The sexually transmitted disease long associated with 19th Century bohemian life is making an alarming resurgence in Europe.
"Syphilis used to be a very rare disease," said Dr. Marita van de Laar, an expert in sexually transmitted diseases at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. "I'm not sure we can say that anymore."
Most cases of syphilis are in men, and experts point to more risky sex among gay men as the chief cause for the resurgence. But more cases are being seen among heterosexuals, both men and women, too.
Syphilis was the sexual scourge of the 19th Century, and is believed to have killed artists like poet Charles Baudelaire, composer Robert Schumann, and painter Paul Gauguin. But the widespread use of penicillin in the 1950s all but wiped it out in the Western world.
In the last decade, however, syphilis has unexpectedly returned, driven by risky sexual behavior and outbreaks in major cities across Europe, including London, Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin.
• In Britain, syphilis cases have leapt more than tenfold for men and women in the past decade to 3,702 in 2006, according to the Health Protection Agency. Among men in England, the syphilis rate jumped from one per 100,000 in 1997 to nine per 100,000 last year.
• In Germany, the rate among men was fewer than two per 100,000 in 1991; by 2003, it was six per 100,000.
• In France, there were 428 cases in 2003 — almost 16 times the number just three years earlier.
• In the Netherlands, cases doubled from 2000 to 2004. In Amsterdam, up to 31 men per 100,000 were infected, while the rate was much lower in other regions.
Similar trends have been seen in the United States.
In 2000, syphilis infection rates were so low that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention embarked on a plan to eliminate the disease. But about 9,800 cases were reported in 2006.
In Europe, Van de Laar said syphilis' reappearance was so surprising that many doctors initially had trouble diagnosing it.
Though these days it mainly affects urban gay men, experts worry that the disease could also rebound in the general population if stronger efforts to fight it are not taken soon.
In 2005, British authorities reported that syphilis was spreading across the entire country, and that more heterosexual men and women were being infected.
"These increases may lead to increases in diagnoses of congenital syphilis over the coming years," said Kate Swan, a spokeswoman for the Health Protection Agency.
Pregnant women with syphilis can pass it on to their babies. Nearly half of all babies infected with syphilis while they are in the womb die shortly before or after birth.
Syphilis is a bacterial disease causing symptoms that include ulcers, sores and rashes. In extreme cases, it can result in dementia or fatally damage the heart, respiratory and central nervous systems. Syphilis is treatable with antibiotics if caught early.
Once there are more than just a few isolated cases, containing the disease is difficult.Advances made in treating AIDS may have inadvertently boosted syphilis' spread."The evidence points to an increase in unsafe sexual behavior since anti-retrovirals for AIDS came along in 1996," said van de Laar.After decades of being instructed to use condoms and to limit the number of sexual partners, some people are probably suffering from "safe sex fatigue," van de Laar said. The Internet has also allowed people to find sexual partners more easily than before, and some experts link the rise of dating Web sites to the jump in syphilis cases.For some men, the Internet connections can be especially dangerous."Networks of HIV-positive men to find other positive men have sprung up on the Internet," said Jonathan Elford, an AIDS epidemiologist at London's City University.Some men who have the AIDS virus are seeking condom-free sex with other men who are also HIV-infected. However, they aren't protected against syphilis and other sexually spread diseases. Among gay men who have syphilis in Britain, nearly half have HIV, Elford said.Amid this resurgence, some officials are now attacking the epidemic online.Every day, health workers at the Terrence Higgins Trust, Europe's largest AIDS charity, log into chatrooms on a popular British gay dating Web site to spread safe sex messages and answer questions."We know that men are arranging hook-ups for sex online," said Mark Thompson, the charity's deputy head of health promotion. "So we decided to tap into cyberspace to try reaching them before unsafe sex might happen."
"Syphilis used to be a very rare disease," said Dr. Marita van de Laar, an expert in sexually transmitted diseases at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. "I'm not sure we can say that anymore."
Most cases of syphilis are in men, and experts point to more risky sex among gay men as the chief cause for the resurgence. But more cases are being seen among heterosexuals, both men and women, too.
Syphilis was the sexual scourge of the 19th Century, and is believed to have killed artists like poet Charles Baudelaire, composer Robert Schumann, and painter Paul Gauguin. But the widespread use of penicillin in the 1950s all but wiped it out in the Western world.
In the last decade, however, syphilis has unexpectedly returned, driven by risky sexual behavior and outbreaks in major cities across Europe, including London, Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin.
• In Britain, syphilis cases have leapt more than tenfold for men and women in the past decade to 3,702 in 2006, according to the Health Protection Agency. Among men in England, the syphilis rate jumped from one per 100,000 in 1997 to nine per 100,000 last year.
• In Germany, the rate among men was fewer than two per 100,000 in 1991; by 2003, it was six per 100,000.
• In France, there were 428 cases in 2003 — almost 16 times the number just three years earlier.
• In the Netherlands, cases doubled from 2000 to 2004. In Amsterdam, up to 31 men per 100,000 were infected, while the rate was much lower in other regions.
Similar trends have been seen in the United States.
In 2000, syphilis infection rates were so low that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention embarked on a plan to eliminate the disease. But about 9,800 cases were reported in 2006.
In Europe, Van de Laar said syphilis' reappearance was so surprising that many doctors initially had trouble diagnosing it.
Though these days it mainly affects urban gay men, experts worry that the disease could also rebound in the general population if stronger efforts to fight it are not taken soon.
In 2005, British authorities reported that syphilis was spreading across the entire country, and that more heterosexual men and women were being infected.
"These increases may lead to increases in diagnoses of congenital syphilis over the coming years," said Kate Swan, a spokeswoman for the Health Protection Agency.
Pregnant women with syphilis can pass it on to their babies. Nearly half of all babies infected with syphilis while they are in the womb die shortly before or after birth.
Syphilis is a bacterial disease causing symptoms that include ulcers, sores and rashes. In extreme cases, it can result in dementia or fatally damage the heart, respiratory and central nervous systems. Syphilis is treatable with antibiotics if caught early.
Once there are more than just a few isolated cases, containing the disease is difficult.Advances made in treating AIDS may have inadvertently boosted syphilis' spread."The evidence points to an increase in unsafe sexual behavior since anti-retrovirals for AIDS came along in 1996," said van de Laar.After decades of being instructed to use condoms and to limit the number of sexual partners, some people are probably suffering from "safe sex fatigue," van de Laar said. The Internet has also allowed people to find sexual partners more easily than before, and some experts link the rise of dating Web sites to the jump in syphilis cases.For some men, the Internet connections can be especially dangerous."Networks of HIV-positive men to find other positive men have sprung up on the Internet," said Jonathan Elford, an AIDS epidemiologist at London's City University.Some men who have the AIDS virus are seeking condom-free sex with other men who are also HIV-infected. However, they aren't protected against syphilis and other sexually spread diseases. Among gay men who have syphilis in Britain, nearly half have HIV, Elford said.Amid this resurgence, some officials are now attacking the epidemic online.Every day, health workers at the Terrence Higgins Trust, Europe's largest AIDS charity, log into chatrooms on a popular British gay dating Web site to spread safe sex messages and answer questions."We know that men are arranging hook-ups for sex online," said Mark Thompson, the charity's deputy head of health promotion. "So we decided to tap into cyberspace to try reaching them before unsafe sex might happen."
Sex Ed Does Delay Teen Sex: CDC
THURSDAY, Dec. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Sex education programs dowork to help discourage many teens from becoming sexually active beforeage 15, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers forDisease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Formal programs -- such as those presented in schools and churchgroups -- did appear to delay onset of sexual activity. For example, teengirls in the nationally representative sample were 59 percent less likelyto start having sex before age 15 if they had received sex education,while teen boys were 71 percent less likely, the study found.
"We were obviously hoping to find that sex education is effective.We're glad to see the strong associations," said lead author TrishaMueller, a CDC epidemiologist. She emphasized that in order to besuccessful, sex education should take place before young people becomesexually active.
Mueller's team also learned that teen boys who attended school werealmost three times more likely to use contraception if they had attended asex education program, compared to those who had not.
However, attendance at a sex education class did not seem to impactgirls' use of birth control, the survey found.
The survey did not differentiate between programs that emphasizedabstinence and those that educated about contraception. Instead,researchers focused only on whether the teens had ever attended any sexeducation program in a formal setting, such as school or church.
The study was expected to be published in the January issue of theJournal of Adolescent Health.
According to earlier, 2005 data available from the CDC, 47 percent ofhigh school students said they had already had sex. Of those who werecurrently involved in a sexual relationship, one-third said they were notusing a condom.
Curious about the effectiveness of sexual education on these behaviors,Mueller and colleagues examined data from more than 2,000 teen boys andgirls between 15 and 19 years of age who participated in the door-to-door2002 National Survey of Family Growth.
"Formal sex education is beneficial for youth who are considered to beat-risk," noted Mueller, who cited as an example the 88 percent reducedrisk of initiation sex before age 15 among urban black females who hadreceived any sex education. Urban black teen girls who were still inschool at the time of the survey had a 91 percent reduced risk ofinitiation sex before age 15, the survey found.
The research also showed that boys living in single-parent householdswere more likely to delay sex past age 15 if they had attended a sexeducation class.
Mueller and her team were interested in teen sexual decision-makingbefore and after the age of 15, because the federal governments' HealthyPeople 2010 initiative treats 15 as a dividing line. Healthy People 2010sets a wide array of health goals for states and communities to achieveover the first decade of this century. One of its objectives: to reducethe number of teens under age 15 who are having sex for the first time.
"First and foremost, the report makes clear that the timing of sexeducation is quite important. That is, providing sex education to youngpeople at an early age seems quite important in helping delay sexualactivity," said Bill Albert, deputy director of the Washington, D.C.-basedNational Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
The researchers said the study could not explain why sex educationmight have a stronger effect in delaying sex among teen boys and blackgirls, but Albert offered an explanation.
"It is the case that declines in sexual activity among teen boys, asopposed to girls, and African-American teen girls, as opposed to otherracial/ethnic groups, have been much more dramatic over the past decade.This may, in part, explain why the effect of sex education seems stronger.It may also be that concern about HIV/AIDs may be particularly strongamong these two groups," said Albert.
However, certain sub-populations of teens deserve further research,said Mueller. The data suggested that both rural, white teen girls andwhite or Hispanic teen girls who had dropped out of school might bemore likely to have sex before age 15 if they had sex education,but Mueller said the number of people in those groups in the study was sosmall that the results could be a statistical fluke.
"They were kind of opposite findings," said Mueller, who acknowledgedthat "some subgroups may not benefit from sex ed the same way as thelarger group of teens."
This research comes in the wake of data released Dec. 5 by the CDCshowing that the annual rate of births to teens has increased for thefirst time in 14 years. Between 2005 and 2006, the birth rate for girls 15to 19 rose 3 percent -- from 40.5 births per 1,000 in 2005 to 41.9 per1,000 in 2006.
Considering both studies, Albert said, "The early wins may have beenwon. Future efforts may well have to be more intense, focused, andcreative if the nation is to make continued progress in reducing teenpregnancy and childbearing. Put another way, yesterday's way of doingbusiness will no longer suffice."
Formal programs -- such as those presented in schools and churchgroups -- did appear to delay onset of sexual activity. For example, teengirls in the nationally representative sample were 59 percent less likelyto start having sex before age 15 if they had received sex education,while teen boys were 71 percent less likely, the study found.
"We were obviously hoping to find that sex education is effective.We're glad to see the strong associations," said lead author TrishaMueller, a CDC epidemiologist. She emphasized that in order to besuccessful, sex education should take place before young people becomesexually active.
Mueller's team also learned that teen boys who attended school werealmost three times more likely to use contraception if they had attended asex education program, compared to those who had not.
However, attendance at a sex education class did not seem to impactgirls' use of birth control, the survey found.
The survey did not differentiate between programs that emphasizedabstinence and those that educated about contraception. Instead,researchers focused only on whether the teens had ever attended any sexeducation program in a formal setting, such as school or church.
The study was expected to be published in the January issue of theJournal of Adolescent Health.
According to earlier, 2005 data available from the CDC, 47 percent ofhigh school students said they had already had sex. Of those who werecurrently involved in a sexual relationship, one-third said they were notusing a condom.
Curious about the effectiveness of sexual education on these behaviors,Mueller and colleagues examined data from more than 2,000 teen boys andgirls between 15 and 19 years of age who participated in the door-to-door2002 National Survey of Family Growth.
"Formal sex education is beneficial for youth who are considered to beat-risk," noted Mueller, who cited as an example the 88 percent reducedrisk of initiation sex before age 15 among urban black females who hadreceived any sex education. Urban black teen girls who were still inschool at the time of the survey had a 91 percent reduced risk ofinitiation sex before age 15, the survey found.
The research also showed that boys living in single-parent householdswere more likely to delay sex past age 15 if they had attended a sexeducation class.
Mueller and her team were interested in teen sexual decision-makingbefore and after the age of 15, because the federal governments' HealthyPeople 2010 initiative treats 15 as a dividing line. Healthy People 2010sets a wide array of health goals for states and communities to achieveover the first decade of this century. One of its objectives: to reducethe number of teens under age 15 who are having sex for the first time.
"First and foremost, the report makes clear that the timing of sexeducation is quite important. That is, providing sex education to youngpeople at an early age seems quite important in helping delay sexualactivity," said Bill Albert, deputy director of the Washington, D.C.-basedNational Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
The researchers said the study could not explain why sex educationmight have a stronger effect in delaying sex among teen boys and blackgirls, but Albert offered an explanation.
"It is the case that declines in sexual activity among teen boys, asopposed to girls, and African-American teen girls, as opposed to otherracial/ethnic groups, have been much more dramatic over the past decade.This may, in part, explain why the effect of sex education seems stronger.It may also be that concern about HIV/AIDs may be particularly strongamong these two groups," said Albert.
However, certain sub-populations of teens deserve further research,said Mueller. The data suggested that both rural, white teen girls andwhite or Hispanic teen girls who had dropped out of school might bemore likely to have sex before age 15 if they had sex education,but Mueller said the number of people in those groups in the study was sosmall that the results could be a statistical fluke.
"They were kind of opposite findings," said Mueller, who acknowledgedthat "some subgroups may not benefit from sex ed the same way as thelarger group of teens."
This research comes in the wake of data released Dec. 5 by the CDCshowing that the annual rate of births to teens has increased for thefirst time in 14 years. Between 2005 and 2006, the birth rate for girls 15to 19 rose 3 percent -- from 40.5 births per 1,000 in 2005 to 41.9 per1,000 in 2006.
Considering both studies, Albert said, "The early wins may have beenwon. Future efforts may well have to be more intense, focused, andcreative if the nation is to make continued progress in reducing teenpregnancy and childbearing. Put another way, yesterday's way of doingbusiness will no longer suffice."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)