The term "Sexually Transmitted Diseases "sends a chill through most people. It conjours up visions of diseases such as Syphilis, Gonorrhea and Genital Herpes, all of which are unpleasantly evident when contracted. Unfortunately there is also another very common STD which shows few symptoms - and if left untreated - leads to infertility.
Chlamydia is on the rise in Australia. Researchers think that it claimed about 356,000 victims in 2013 and these were four times the number that were actually diagnosed. The fact that it does not reveal itself by noticeable symptoms means that it usually is dormantly unrecognised while it silently does damage that will prevent it's host from bearing children later in life.
Chlamydia is prevalent in young women in the fifteen to seventeen age grouping, and this is where many gain their first sexual experience. Whether we like it or not, we live in a world where change of attitudes is constant and sex is now prevalent between young people. There is an expectation that dating couples will engage in sex very early in the relationship and casual sex is now about on the same level as the shaking of hands from a few decades ago.
The health message that is repeatedly drummed into the public is that condom use prevents both STD's and unwanted pregnancies. When AIDS burst onto the scene decades ago it certainly advanced the use of condoms but unprotected sex is again in the ascendancy - particularly amongst our young people. Statistics show that if a condom is available it is usually used, but few take the trouble to seek out such protection before the act.
Wise heads in the health department advise that we need to increase the availability of condoms. The rest rooms of most pubs and clubs now have coin operated condom vending machines and they are widely and openly sold in supermarkets and even small corner stores. It is suggested that such machines be installed in the girl's toilets of the school systems - and that will provoke heated controversy.
The thinking of the older generation is out of kilter with the sexual revolution that exists in young minds. We grudgingly accept that most young people live together without the sanctity of marriage but most feel that teen sex should be forbidden. In particular, the churches are vehement in their opposition to sex outside of marriage and some even forbid the use of condoms by married couples. Their message is a demand for abstinence - and obviously that falls on deaf ears.
This silent epidemic that is Chlamydia can cut a swathe through the ranks of today's young women and in a generation leave them childless. No amount of finger wagging or lecturing is going to turn back the clock and teenage sex is now a fact of life. Health realists accept that the only way to stop this epidemic in it's tracks is to promote the use of condoms - and to achieve that they must be readily available when they are needed.
To do that, it is necessary to make that availability within instant reach and hence the idea of condom machines in the toilets of schools is no longer fanciful. Achieving it is another matter. It is inevitable that there will be howls of protest from a big sector of the public and it will receive unrelenting opposition from the churches. It is almost impossible to envisage condom vending machines in the girl's toilets of Catholic schools.
The meat in the sandwich will be the state education systems. The warnings from the health department will come into conflict with what moralists will call "the silent majority " who will see such a health initiative as encouraging promiscuous sex. Stuck in the middle will be the politicians - who will probably need to move legislation through parliament if such vending machines are to become a reality.
So the health people are stuck on the horns of a dilemma. We have an increasing epidemic that can only be stopped by an action that will be blocked by both the churches and a significant portion of society. The politicians will be reluctant to move if they feel that it reduces their chances of continuing to hold office - and it is absolutely certain that today's teenagers are not going to change their habits when it comes to sex.
That seems to be a case of an unstoppable force coming into collision with an immovable object !
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