NSW Health tonight will roll out television advertising spearheading a major advertising campaign aimed at educating people about safe sex as part of a strategy to stem an increase in sexually transmitted diseases.
Using the tagline “Safe Sex. No regrets”, the campaign created by Peach Advertising is one of the largest ever for NSW Health and urges people to use condoms to help reduce the risk of diseases including infectious syphilis, chlamydia, and HIV.
The latest figures show there have been significant increases in the incidences of the diseases.
In NSW from 1999 to 207 there was a 307% increase in chlamydia notifications, a 213% increase in infectious syphilis, a 12% increase in gonorrhea. From 1999 to 2003 there was an 11% increase in HIV.
Director of communicable diseases for NSW Health Dr Jeremy McAnulty said the increases were not just being seen amongst particular groups of people.
“These significant disease increases have been seen over a number of years and are across the board affecting men and women, whether heterosexual or gay,” McAnulty said.
Chlamydia is increasing infecting young people who will be a prime target of the campaign.
“Chlamydia is a preventable disease which is increasingly affecting young people,” McAnulty said.
“In 2004 53% of people diagnosed with chlamydia were less than 25 years old.”
The ten week campaign will also include posters, bus advertising, the establishment of a telephone information line, a 16 page booklet on sexually transmitted infections, and a series of brochures in various languages.
