Health Related Questions & Discussion

Click on the image below to check out an excellent piece by Aayesha Siddiqui, a Master of Public Health student at Boston University. You can follow her on Twitter at @aayesha.

Click the cover to browse The Continuum Complete International Encyclopedia of Sexuality and look up information on sexual behaviour patterns and HIV/AIDS in your country.

Check out Austin Community College's safer sex quiz on its Student Health 101 website:

You will need to click in the bottom left-hand corner of the website to access the quiz.

November 23, 2011 — Heather Corinna, Scarleteen

October 4, 2011 — Austrian Times

One out of four young Austrians believe they could get AIDS and HIV by going to the toilet, according to research.

Condom producer Durex polled more than 15,700 Europeans aged between 15 and 20 including around 1,000 Austrians for its "The Face of Global Sex 2010" study.

The survey has shown that 25 per cent of interviewed Austrians admitted thinking there was using a public toilet may risk becoming infected with the virus, while 16 per cent said the same about kissing.

"HIV and the Youth"
September 19, 2011 — Siphosethu Stuurman, Health-e News

Sexual behaviour change among young people has been cited as a significant tool in the fight against high HIV prevalence among the youth. But with so many contributing factors to young people's tolerance of risky behaviour, it is still not clear how to achieve the individual level behavioural changes needed to reduce high HIV infections.

A group of sexually active youth from Johannesburg shared their sexual experiences.

"When used consistently and correctly, latex condoms are highly effective in preventing the sexual transmission of HIV (during vaginal, oral, or anal intercourse). Latex condoms are also effective in preventing pregnancy and several sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Using condoms lowers women's risk of developing cervical cancer, a disease associated with HPV. Consistent use of condoms can also help people clear HPV infection and/or reduce their risk of re-infection."

The following piece is taken from an American student newspaper serving the University of Florida, Gainesville, and North Florida.

September 14, 2011 — The Independent Florida Alligator

~ by Jacob Romoser and Kay Bea, Avenue Columnists

Raise your hand if life gets you stressed. OK, keep your hand up if you think sex is an awesome stress relief. Good. Now, keep your hand up if sex is occasionally a source of your stress.

Fail.

We'll wager that you're not being as safe as you should be when you get down and dirty.

Check out these videos in which two young women in their early 20s discuss their use of female condoms and the initial confusion that is bound to arise when inserting them for the first time. (This should not stop you from trying them if you haven't already!) Although the majority of the discussion focuses on pregnancy prevention, we must not forget the importance of providing access to female condoms in our efforts to bring an end to the HIV&AIDS epidemic.

Check out this creative and helpful stop motion video by Planned Parenthood of the Rochester/Syracuse Region (New York, USA).

Consider creating your own safer sex stop motion video and then posting it in our Gallery!

Click on the images above to check out MTV's Get Yourself Tested fact sheets and frequently asked questions.

Here's a list of all the questions covered:

Click the image below to learn about these myths (brought to you by Teens Health).

Article by Jumanah Saadeh
June 13, 2011, The Eastern Echo

Sex ed has come to be the brunt of jokes among high school and college kids today. We laugh when the topic comes up, or when we see the health teacher in the show Mean Girls saying, “Don’t have sex. ‘Cuz you will get pregnant and die.”

It’s actually a very serious issue, though, because according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the median age for having sex for the first time is approximately 17. And according to the Center for Disease Control, 46 percent of high schoolers had sex in 2009.

When in Doubt About Sexual Health, Teens Turn to Google
June 4, 2011 — Deb Levine, Huffington Post

What do youth do when they want to know where to get free condoms? They Google it!

Or, according to our recent survey and focus groups with youth aged 13–24, they go to Bing, Yahoo! or Ask.com.

May 30, 2011 — National Post

[Source: Healthy Times Blog]

Get your questions answered about safe sex methods. This guide (written by and for teens) explains not only what some of the different methods are and how they work, but also how effective they are—when used consistently and correctly—at preventing pregnancy or reducing the risk of getting an STI. Click below!

Great explanatory poster created for the Scrutinize Campaign. Click to enlarge.

Great explanatory poster created for the Scrutinize Campaign. Click to enlarge.

"Tapping into young people’s use of online social networks presents health agencies with a powerful opportunity to help control the rise in HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in homeless youth in Los Angeles, United States...

The Sex, Etc. website run by youth has a great list of terms and definitions related to sex:

http://www.sexetc.org/page/glossary

You may also be interested in checking out frequently asked questions posed by teens.

How would falling in love with someone living with HIV change your view of HIV and AIDS?

How has  falling in love with someone living with HIV changed your view of HIV and AIDS?

What do you think is the best thing to do if you have doubts that you might be infected by HIV?