Grab a condom

It is a well-known fact that Maltese society is becoming more liberal and that behaviour that was considered taboo twenty or thirty years ago is nowadays widely accepted as the norm. One could get into a philosophical discussion as to whether this is actually progress or not, but at the end of the day that is inconsequential. The fact is that societal norms have changed, whether we like it or not, and we have to adapt.

This week the results of a nationwide survey that looked into the sexual knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of people aged between 16 and 40 in Malta were released to the public. We now know that 40% of young people aged between 16 and 18 are sexually active. Of these, almost half are having unprotected sex, with all the implications that this brings with it. In a nutshell, what this translates to is that 20% or one in five of our 16 to 18 year-olds are at risk of unwanted pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases.

It is our responsibility to prepare our children for the realities of life and these realities include pressures to have sex, as well as related topics such as getting pregnant or contracting a disease. We are clearly letting our children down when we stick our heads in the sand and mutter that premarital sex is a sin so we should not talk about it. They are talking about it, so as their parents we must talk about it too!

The study showed that 7% of respondents had at some point contracted a sexually transmitted disease, which might actually be the tip of the iceberg given the fact that only 55% of respondents were aware of the genitourinary clinic and only 63% knew that they could get free testing for STDs. Clearly the odds are that there are many people out there infected with different sexually transmitted diseases who are not even aware of the fact that they have a problem.

Dr Philip Carabott, the head of the GU clinic at Mater Dei, has for several years been a lone voice advocating the need of informing the public and educating our youngsters regarding the risk of STDs and the health facilities available in relation to sexually transmitted infections. When the new GU clinic was launched two years ago, he sounded a warning that the high rates of unprotected sex and in particular the low use of condoms in our society were resulting in a rapid acceleration in the spread of diseases such as syphilis, chlamydia and HPV.

Furthermore Dr Carabott has often spoken up about the fact that many Maltese keep the knowledge of their infections to themselves, leading to their infecting sex partners who do not insist on the use of condoms. Clearly this is irresponsible behaviour that should not be encouraged and ideally should be eradicated.

This behaviour is not restricted to teenagers, who at least have the excuse of immaturity, but also extends to older patients, including married patients who were infected when engaging in extramarital sex and subsequently infected their spouse.

Clearly we have a long way to go when it comes to educating the Maltese public about responsible sex and taking care of their health and unfortunately very little is being done to rectify the situation.

The truth is that this is not a matter of morality. It is not a problem that can be solved through sermons or exhortations from the pulpit. This is something that can only be sorted out by empowering our youngsters by giving them the cold, hard facts.

The pros and cons of sex education have been discussed ad nauseum for several years. In the meantime, while the grown-ups are dithering about and philosophizing about it, the kids are at it like rabbits. One in five kids in sixth forms is having sex - in a class of 20 kids an average of 4 will be sexually active, with more taking the plunge each year.

Teaching our youngsters to abstain and be faithful is clearly not sufficient for the circumstances at hand. Once one is sexually active, the truth is that they are at risk of any kind of disease, whether they are faithful to their partner or not, because nobody can be really sure that their partner was not infected from a prior liaison or is not sleeping with someone else on the side.

Taking the pill or inserting a diaphragm is not enough to protect our children. They need to use condoms and safeguard themselves. We need to make sure that they are aware of why condoms are vital and how to use them properly.

It is our responsibility as parents.