"In tackling HIV we have tended to take a disease prevention approach, but sexual health education needs to emerge from the premise that sex and sexuality is a normal, natural and healthy aspect of life and well-being."
"We need to start talking about sex," says Ann Nolan, director of Dublin Aids Allowance, marking Irish Aids Day with a march to the Dáil to raise awareness about young people's sexual health.
The campaign would include tackling the stigma about HIV that leads to ignorance and misinformation, initiate multidisciplinary sex education programmes in school and make condoms freely available to young people. Condoms are the only contraceptives to prevent the spread of HIV and STIs, yet products here are the most expensive in Europe. Studies have cited condom cost/availability as factors prohibiting their use.
"We know that education is effective in HIV and STI prevention. But there are parents and teachers of my generation - in our forties and over - who've never experienced sex education and may be uncomfortable with it because we've come from an Ireland that rendered sex a taboo subject. So the starting point for our sexual health has to be awareness, facilitating a campaign that enables more informal, ordinary discussion about sex and HIV," says Nolan
"In terms of programmes, the most effective approaches are multidisciplinary, incorporating safer sexual negotiation skills, capacity building, information, knowledge about condoms, STI screening. Campaigns need to be backed up with well resourced, supportive programmes engaging parents and young people across all communities. HIV is often associated with 'other' vilified groups, but HIV is not about groups, it's about behaviours some of which are more high risk than others."
Irish Aids Day March 2pm from Garden Of Remembrance to Dáil Éireann June 15th, 2005.
For further information www.dublinaidsalliance.com
Anne Dempsey