World National
©World National / Roger-Luc Chayer

Safe sex should be promoted on TV soaps, doctors say

LONDON - TV dramas and soaps should feature young people who have contracted sexual diseases to warn of the dangers of infection, the British Medical Association said Tuesday.

The association said a lack of high-profile campaigns to encourage safe sex was behind the soaring rates of sexually transmitted disease across Britain.

Its report said poor sex education in schools and a "desperate" lack of genitourinary clinics has also helped promote the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

British people, the report added, "generally find it embarrassing to talk openly about sexual matters."

TV soaps and drama series, which draw millions of viewers, should reflect the true nature of sexual relationships, which includes the risk of infection, the report said.

Government figures show the number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases being treated each year rose by almost 300,000 between 1995 and 2000.

Data from the Public Health Laboratory Service shows that in 1999/2000, cases of gonorrhea rose by 31 percent in males and 26 percent in females when compared with 1998/99.

In the same year cases of chlamydia, a major cause of infertility in women, rose by 17 percent, the data showed.

The number of cases of sexually transmitted infections declined in the late 1980s and early 1990s, largely due to the government's anti-AIDS (news - web sites) campaigns, the report said. But there have been few public campaigns since.

"What is clear from the figures ... is that increasing numbers of young heterosexuals and homosexual or bisexual men are not practicing safer sex," said Dr. Vivienne Nathanson, the BMA's head of science and ethics.

"We need to get the message across to young people that there is still no cure for HIV (news - web sites)/AIDS, that sexually transmitted infections, especially if left untreated, can be very serious, can cause infertility and sometimes lead to death."