All About Condoms

Teens 'using condoms incorrectly'

10 August 2006 From the "National Headlines" at Regional Film&Video, in the UK:

Teens 'using condoms incorrectly'

Many British teenagers are failing to use condoms correctly, new research has claimed.
Researchers at Southampton University surveyed 1,400 teenagers aged between 16 and 18 in England.
The researchers found that, of the 373 who used a condom in the their most recent sexual experience, 6% had put the condom on after penetration, while the same number had continued penetrative sex after removing the condom.
The researchers also asked over 100 teenagers to keep a diary charting their sexual activity for a month. Of this number, 74 said that they used a condom. However, 31% admitted that they put the condom on too late, while 10% removed the condom too soon.
Reasons for not using a condom included greater intimacy, other contraception being used, the sex feeling better without it and simply getting 'carried away'.
However, those who chose to use a condom mainly cited the prevention of pregnancy, to avoid 'making a mess' or to make sex last longer as the reasons, with very few respondents citing the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases as a reason.
The researchers said: "If we are to see a reduction in STI prevalence, it is essential that young people understand the importance of using condoms consistently and correctly, and are also equipped with the skills and knowledge to do so."
Commenting on the research, Toni Bellfield, director of information for the Family Planning Association, said: "This research continues to reinforce the message that young people need good information and support to use condoms correctly and consistently.
"Good communication with a trusted adult is an essential part of this. We would urge parents and carers to be open about sex and relationships with their children so they can be a source of guidance and support for them."
(KMcA)
©"National Headlines" at Regional Film&Video

'Significant' Decrease in Sexual Experience Among Teenagers; Increase in Condom Use, Study Says

Daily Women's Health Policy

Public Health & Education | 'Significant' Decrease in Sexual Experience Among Teenagers; Increase in Condom Use, Study Says
[Aug 11, 2006]
The proportion of U.S. teenagers who are sexually experienced has decreased "significantly," while condom use has increased, according to a report published in the Aug. 11 edition of CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the Washington Times reports. Nancy Brener of CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health and colleagues used data from eight national Youth Risk Behavior Surveys conducted by CDC, which surveyed about 11,000 to 16,200 high school students in public and private schools in the 50 states and the District of Columbia (Howard Price, Washington Times, 8/11). High school students typically are between ages 15 and 18, according to Reuters (Bigg, Reuters, 8/10). The report finds that the proportion of high school students who are sexually experienced decreased by 13% from 1991 to 2005. The researchers also found that the proportion of respondents who had four or more sexual partners had decreased by 24% in that time period and that there was a 9% decline among respondents who said they currently were sexually active (Brener et al., MMWR, 8/11). Current sexual activity was defined as having had sexual intercourse in the previous three months. The report also finds that the percentage of students who said they had ever had sexual intercourse decreased from 54.1% in 1991 to 46.8% in 2005 (Washington Times, 8/11). In addition, the report finds that among sexually active students, condom use during their most recent sexual act increased by 36% from 46.2% in 1991 to 62.8% in 2005 (MMWR, 8/11). "The overall decrease in HIV-related sexual risk behaviors among high school students discussed in this report corresponds to a similar decrease in gonorrhea, pregnancy and birthrates among adolescents," the report says, concluding that improvements in students' health outcomes "likely resulted from the combined contributions of parents and families, schools, youth-serving community organizations, health care providers, the media, government agencies and the youth themselves," as well as access to better educational interventions.

Minority Students' Sexual Activity
The researchers also found that the proportion of black teens who are sexually experienced decreased from 81.4% in 1991 to 60.8% in 2001 but has "leveled off" at 67.6% in 2005. "Efforts need to be intensified among black students, who are more likely than white and Hispanic students to report HIV-related sexual risk behaviors," according to a CDC release (Washington Times, 8/11). The prevalence of sexual experience among Latino students did not significantly decrease between 1991 and 2005, the report finds. The report finds that in 1991, 53.1% of Latino teens reported ever having had sexual intercourse, compared with 51.0% in 2005. In 1991, 16.8% of Latino teens reported having had more than four sexual partners compared with 15.9 in 2005, according to the report (MMWR, 8/11). The authors wrote that additional measures must be aimed at decreasing risky sexual behaviors among Latino students (Washington Times, 8/11). The report was published in advance of the XVI International AIDS Conference, which starts Sunday (Reuters, 8/10).
©Kaiser Network.org

Celebrate Youth! Urge Your Representative to Support the PATHWAY Act of 2006!

From our friends at Planned Parenthood:

Fri, 08/11/2006 - 3:47pm
Submitted by E Lockwood
Category: Abstinence | HIV/AIDS | Family Planning Funding

Every 14 seconds, someone between the ages of 10 and 24 is infected with HIV. When it comes to funding efforts to prevent the spread of HIV, the United States is a world leader. Unfortunately, the landmark 2003 Global AIDS bill requires that at least one-third of all HIV prevention funds be used to support unproven and potentially dangerous abstinence-only-until-marriage programs — even in countries hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Urge your representative to repeal this harmful requirement.

This restriction means there is less money available to support comprehensive, effective HIV-prevention strategies, including condom distribution. This dangerous policy also ignores the realities faced by millions of women and girls around the world: rape, sexual assault, early marriage, sex for survival.

Recently, some members of Congress introduced legislation that would repeal the abstinence-only-until-marriage requirement and require the U.S. government to develop a comprehensive and integrated strategy for addressing the vulnerabilities of women and girls to the spread of HIV.

Urge your representative to support this important bill — the PATHWAY Act of 2006 (H.R. 5674). Women and girls around the world are counting on you to make a difference.

Ignorance about condoms may lie behind some of the spread of sexual disease in Britain, campaigners claimed today.

NHS Must Help Ignorant Men - Campaigners

Marking Sexual Health Week, planners called for the NHS to move away from standard issue condoms.

The former Family Planning Association - now known as "fpa" - said men did not realise they need to obtain protection to fit them - and often if they took advice from the NHS were not warned of this.

An fpa survey found that more than third of condom users had experienced problems caused by using items of the wrong size.

And one quarter did not even know they could be purchased in different shapes and sizes.

Toni Belfield, of fpa, said: "Men come in different shapes and sizes and so do condoms.

"Poor use of condoms can have devastating consequences on people’s sexual health. Recent new figures showed the UK has the highest ever number of new cases of chlamydia and continued high rates of unwanted pregnancies3.

"Problems such as condoms splitting or coming off are directly related to people choosing the wrong size and shape or not using them correctly. When this happens, people lose trust and confidence in the method. As a direct consequence, people are then far more likely to use condoms erratically or stop using them altogether."

She added: "The NHS is the largest distributor of free condoms in the UK. We would like to see a much wider variety of condoms made available so that people can chose a fit that is right for them from a good selection."

Kathy French, sexual health adviser to the Royal College of Nursing sexual health adviser, said: "The fpa’s findings on condom usage show that there is much to be done to educate people about the different types and sizes of condoms available to them.

"Every day sexual health nurses see the devastating impact of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and are continually improving, developing and extending services to meet patients’ needs."

Meanwhile in Scotland some £15 million was promised to help improve access to sexual health services.

Saying the cash would be spent over three years, health minister Andy Kerr said: "Our message for good sexual health is ’delay until you’re ready but be safe when you are active’."
Date: August 8th 2006

These condoms won`t penetrate the market...the label could draw youngsters into having sex earlier, newspapers reported Tuesday.

Bangkok, Aug 10:

Thai cultural watchdogs have banned a line of condoms whose name translates as "Good Penetration," saying the suggestive label could draw youngsters into having sex earlier, newspapers reported Tuesday.

The condoms are actually named "Tom Dundee" after the stage name of a popular country singer, but Culture Ministry officials said this was inappropriate and offended good norms and culture, the Thai Rath tabloid said.

"Dundee" in Thai means "Good Penetration."

"Although the name is not vulgar or rude, it is ambiguous, boastful and provocative," said Ladda Tangsupachai of the Cultural Watch Center.

"It could entice excessive consumption and lure children and youths with little maturity to start having sexual activities before their appropriate age," she added.

Dundee, whose real name is Puntiva Poomiprates, defended lending his stage name to the condom brand.

He said he was merely following a government policy to promote safe sex in a country where over 500,000 people have HIV or AIDS, and indicators point to climbing infection rates among the young.

"You can`t stop human desire, no matter how old they are, so it is better to protect them," Puntiva told media persons, adding that he had been telling his audiences about the risks of AIDS and unwanted pregnancy for years.

In Thailand, condom producers have to seek approval from both the Health and Culture ministries.

Bureau Report

In a Beijing survey, only 15 percent of 482 men who had sex with men understood that they were at risk of contracting HIV, according to a 2005 report by the United Nations' UNAIDS. Some 49 percent reported having had unprotected anal intercourse with men.

Sex Taboos Put Chinese Gays More At Risk For HIV/AIDS
08.11.06

By Anthony Cuesta

How to prevent the spread of AIDS in places like China will be a major focus of researchers and policymakers at next week’s 16th International AIDS Conference, which opens on Sunday in Toronto.

In China, homosexuality, while no longer officially considered a mental disorder, is still an off limits subject for many, reports Reuters. That taboo often extends to discussions about AIDS and condom use for men who have sex with men.

Condoms are widely available thanks to China's long-standing one-child policy, but Reuters reports that conservative attitudes and an unwillingness to talk about sex mean the connection with AIDS prevention is not always made.

"Sex is taboo, and condoms have mainly been used as part of family planning rather than for safe sex," Lee Folland, a graduate student doing research at Cambridge University on the social marketing of condoms in China, told Reuters.

In a Beijing survey, only 15 percent of 482 men who had sex with men understood that they were at risk of contracting HIV, according to a 2005 report by the United Nations' UNAIDS. Some 49 percent reported having had unprotected anal intercourse with men in the prior six months.

A survey in late 2004 by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the northeastern city of Harbin found that almost 20 percent of men who had sex with other men also slept with women. More than 10 percent were married.

"There is strong social pressure to get married -- or what would the neighbors say? It's not only about how your parents would react, but how others will react to your parents," Folland said to Reuters, referring to fear of social ostracism for parents whose sons were thought to be gay.

Condoms and safe sex information are often not available in Chinese gay bars or saunas. Although they are starting to appear thanks to volunteer groups and outreach programs and a government belatedly waking up to the problem.

But even that information can sometimes be too tame to include pictures of how a condom is used.

"Otherwise in China it would probably be considered pornography," said Chinese AIDS activist River Wei told Reuters.

Another problem in China, experts report, is that many men who have sex with men do not identify themselves as gay or bisexual. Indeed, thanks to a lack of education and cultural taboos they are not even be aware the concept exists, activists say.

"If you're 40, have been married all your life, have kids and live in the countryside then one day you discover your true self and have sex with a man, you aren't going to be thinking about using a condom," Wei added.

"But that one time could be enough to get you infected."

© 2006 GayWired; All Rights Reserved.

FEATURE-Sex taboos hamper safety message for gay Chinese

By Ben Blanchard and Tan Ee Lyn

BEIJING/HONG KONG, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Lexy Zhang laughs nervously as he talks about his first experiences picking up men for sex in a country where condoms are widely available for family planning but not always promoted to prevent AIDS.
"I was just having unsafe sex all the time," said the 26-year-old, sitting in a fashionable Beijing bar frequented by gay men.
"Lots of gay Chinese think it's great that you don't have to worry about pregnancy but have no idea about sexually transmitted diseases," said Zhang, adding he now would never consider having unsafe sex.
"There are just not enough organizations paying attention to this community. The government thinks it doesn't exist."
How to prevent the spread of AIDS in places like China will be a major focus of researchers and policymakers at the 16th International AIDS Conference, which opens on Sunday in Toronto.
In China, homosexuality, while no longer officially considered a mental disorder, is still an off limits subject for many. That taboo often extends to discussions about AIDS and condom use for men who have sex with men.
Condoms are widely available thanks to China's long-standing one-child policy, but conservative attitudes and an unwillingness to talk about sex mean the connection with AIDS prevention is not always made.
"Sex is taboo, and condoms have mainly been used as part of family planning rather than for safe sex," said Lee Folland, a graduate student doing research at Cambridge University on the social marketing of condoms in China.
In a Beijing survey, only 15 percent of 482 men who had sex with men understood that they were at risk of contracting HIV, according to a 2005 report by the United Nations' UNAIDS. Some 49 percent reported having had unprotected anal intercourse with men in the prior six months.
A survey in late 2004 by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the northeastern city of Harbin found that almost 20 percent of men who had sex with other men also slept with women. More than 10 percent were married.
"There is strong social pressure to get married -- or what would the neighbors say? It's not only about how your parents would react, but how others will react to your parents," Folland said, referring to fear of social ostracism for parents whose sons were thought to be gay.
Condoms and safe sex information are often not available in Chinese gay bars or saunas. Although they are starting to appear thanks to volunteer groups and outreach programs and a government belatedly waking up to the problem.
But even that information can sometimes be too tame to include pictures of how a condom is used.
"Otherwise in China it would probably be considered pornography," said Chinese AIDS activist River Wei.
BORDER COMPLICATIONS
In Hong Kong, Ricky Fan, 40, goes cruising once a week at one of the city's many gay saunas, venues that have become increasingly popular in recent years among men looking for anonymous sex with other men.
These places are invariably pitch black. But once acclimatized to the darkness, visitors are likely to be greeted by eyecatching flyers and postcards on safe sex, HIV testing and free condoms from the locker rooms to the many tiny cubicles.
The message is certainly not lost on the more frisky members of Hong Kong's gay population.
"I always use condoms, 100 percent of the time. Because it's safer," said Fan, who has visited saunas in the last five years in Hong Kong, mainland China, Thailand, Taiwan and Japan.
"I will push away anyone who doesn't use them."
But this attitude is far from the norm. New HIV infections among men who have sex with men have shot up in almost every big city in Asia in recent years.
Insiders attribute it to unsafe sex, made worse by a population that is relatively cash-rich and highly mobile.
"In Hong Kong, those who are unattractive and can't find anyone go to Shenzhen (across the border in southern China) to buy 'money boys,'" said sauna owner Ray Chong, referring to gigolos who service male clients in big Chinese cities.
"They pay more to get the boys not to use any condoms."
MOBILE POPULATION
Activist groups, which have done much to keep new HIV infections down in Hong Kong, say their work is complicated by the rise in the commercial sex trade on the mainland, which shares an increasingly porous border with Hong Kong.
"Infection rates have gone up among men who have sex with men in Asia because the population is so mobile, so our work cannot remain so localized. We have to go where they go," said Lau Chi-chung of AIDS Concern, a Hong Kong-based group which has promoted awareness of the disease since the mid-1990s.
"What we can do is limited. We have to collaborate with the government, other NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) in mainland China to spread the message."
Another problem in China is that many men who have sex with men do not identify themselves as gay or bisexual. Indeed, thanks to a lack of education and cultural taboos they are not even be aware the concept exists, activists say.
"If you're 40, have been married all your life, have kids and live in the countryside then one day you discover your true self and have sex with a man, you aren't going to be thinking about using a condom," said Wei.
"But that one time could be enough to get you infected."

Vietnam Takes a Major Step to Prevent HIV/AIDS

11 Aug 2006
Vietnam Takes a Major Step to Prevent HIV/AIDS

According to a report in the Thursday edition of a local newspaper, Vietnam News, inns are to be allowed to sell or distribute condoms for the first time in Vietnam.

As a measure to reduce risks, Vietnam will allow the sales and distribution of condoms under a law on HIV/AIDS slated to come into effect from Jan. 1, 2007. Presently, condom sales and distribution are not allowed in inns as prostitution has been reported in many of these inns.

Apart from the prostitutes and sex buyers, there are many couples who rent rooms at these inns, according to many local experts. They feel it is essential to legalize condom sales and distribution in these amenities so that they can avoid unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

In recent years, approximately 39,000 new HIV infection cases are reported annually in Vietnam. The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) reported this. At present, around 3,00,000 Vietnamese are affected by HIV/AIDS, most of them belonging to the high-risk group. This group comprises drug addicts, prostitutes and gays.

By 2010, Vietnam aims to reduce the HIV/AIDS infection rate among its 83-million population to below 0.3 percent and maintain it at that even after 2020.

"The condom would be distributed free of charge in hospitals, clinics and health posts throughout Botswana."

Tlou lobbies MPs for support
11 August, 2006

Health minister Sheila Tlou has called on lawmakers to help in promoting the use of female condoms, branded bliss.
Tlou, who lobbied on Parliament on Wednesday, said the female condom was a way of empowering women in sexual and reproductive health.

She said the female condom would enhance the womens ability to have control over their fertility, helping in enhancing some of their rights such as the right to an uninterrupted schooling and work.

She also said the condom would come in handy as a protection from sexually transmitted disease, including HIV/AIDS.

The condom would be distributed free of charge in hospitals, clinics and health posts throughout Botswana.

In response, MPs called on the minister to make the female condoms available to secondary school students given the ever-increasing pregnancy in the schools. BOPA

Fewer Teens Engaging in Risky Sexual Behavior, CDC Says

From Reuters
August 11, 2006

ATLANTA — Fewer U.S. high school students are having sex, and the ones who do are less likely to have multiple partners, according to a report issued Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In a 2005 survey, 46.8% of students said they engaged in sexual intercourse, down from 54.1% in 1991, according to the report.

And 14.3% of students in 2005 said they had had multiple partners, defined as sex with four or more people. That figure is down from 18.7% in 1991.

The number of students who say they used a condom the last time they had intercourse rose to 62.8% in 2005 from 46.2% in 1991, the survey said.

The report was based on responses to anonymous, self-administered questionnaires in public and private schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia by the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Surveys.

One aim was to determine the extent to which U.S. high school students, generally ages 15 to 18, were at risk for HIV and other behavior-related illnesses.