Use of condoms ‘should be decided on scientific grounds’

Consultant Dr Philip Carabot, who heads the clinic, believes this situation should precipitate a rethink on the country’s attitude towards sexual health.

“Important issues such as condom use, amongst others, need to be taken purely on scientific grounds,” he said.

Carabot was answering questions put to him by MaltaToday on the Church’s role in the sexual health policy, aftert he above statistics were revealed in sister newspaper Illum last Sunday.

A long-overdue national sexual health policy was indeed launched for discussion last November by Health Minister Joe Cassar. Later on in January, local media reported that the final version of the policy had been sent to the Curia for consultation.

Cassar had said the policy is not going to be exclusively about contraception or disease prevention, but the enhancement of sexual health.

“There has been enough procrastination,” he said at the time; however, the policy has not yet been put into place.

Asked whether the Curia should be consulted on people’s sexual health, Carabot replied with a categorical: “No!”

While he recognised that the Church is a stakeholder in Malta’s society and “should have a say”, Carabot stressed that ultimately, decisions of the use of contraception should be based solely on scientific grounds.

In a private study carried out by the GU Clinic, Carabot had called for the national sexual health policy to be activated as soon as possible, as a matter of urgency. He also said that a major review of sex education in schools is essential.

“Decisions on whether these subjects should be taught and how, should not be left up to an individual’s personal religious beliefs or scruples – as happens all too frequently in our schools,” he told MaltaToday, adding that sex education is the most important aspect of the sexual health policy.

At the beginning of this year, the Health Ministry had said that the policy was due to be released in February. But four months on, the nation is still waiting for it.

A spokesperson for the ministry said the delay was due to the extension of the consultative workshops: “The workshops have now been concluded and the strategy is being written.”

The spokesperson was not able to give a definite timeframe to when the policy is expected to be released.

However, the policy had been examined by various stakeholders and entities, and not only the Curia. Amongst others, these included the Ministry of Education, the University of Malta, the Broadcasting Authority and the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS).

On the other hand, the spokesperson admitted that, aside from the GU clinic and Boffa Hospital, there was little response from researchers.