subject: Sexual health campaigns Are they targeting the right audience [print this page] The latest in sexual health campaigns introduces JLS (the famous five of the music industry) as quite literally the faces of safe sex. Each boy band member will have a headshot impressed onto the wrapper of a condom and the range is soon to be launched. The money collected will go straight back into their newly founded sexual health foundation.
I question how useful the campaign will be and whether or not JLS should be the cover models for the audience that really needs to be targeted. Going back to the HPA (Health Protection Agency) figures released in August, 15 to 24 year olds represented the worst group affected by STIs with two thirds of new STI cases in women diagnosed among the under 25s and over half of the new cases contracted by men, also under 25. In women the peak age for an STI is between 19 and 20 and in men, it is more likely to contract an STI between the ages of 20 and 23 years. Will the butter wouldn't melt' baby boys of X factor renown really speak to the street wise 20-somethings of the British public?
In September, on the back of the HPA statistics collected, a different sexual health campaign was launched in reaction to the evidence of a rise in STIs diagnosed among those over the age of 50. This was said to be due to the increase in those aged 50 plus engaging with new sexual partners as a result of divorce and the ending of long term relationships but also because we live longer and healthier lifestyles today. The Family Planning Association, decided to use fashion advertisements from the 60s and 70s in order to speak to this generation of STI spreaders. The campaign included images of men and women in clothing right out of the 60s and 70s accompanied by a caption reading, Remember wearing this?' and alongside this caption, another reading, Well, remember to wear this', cue the image of the condom.
This sort of campaign was long overdue as the youth of Britain had been solely targeted by previous campaigns for too long. The older generations obviously thought they were impermeable to the contracting of sexually transmitted diseases which is startling considering the results concluded that 45 to 64 year olds, saw the biggest rise in syphilis, herpes, chlamydia and genital warts between 2000 and 2009 and the second biggest rise in the cases of gonorrhoea but this was in the over 65s. Cases of syphilis rose from 52 cases to 503 cases from 2000 to 2009 between those aged 45 to 64 years!
Time will tell what sort of impact such sexual health campaigns have had. The Family Planning Association were targeting a specific age group whose sexual lifestyles needed to be addressed together with a clever advertising campaign. This JLS campaign in my opinion will most likely be a waste of money considering those who need to be made more aware will certainly not be buying shiny condom wrappers embossed with the white smiles of eager young fame hungry men.
What the 15 24 age group need to do is to ensure that they have regular STI tests. Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea are always on the rise and it is important to avoid the spread of these infections by getting tested whenever there is a change of sexual partner.
Sexual health campaigns Are they targeting the right audience
