Thursday August 17, 12:17 PM
In school, dicing with sex and death
Speaking of unprotected sex — which he said was rampant among teenagers — "Dr Love" Wei Siang Yu told this newspaper: "They are rebellious, invincible and think nothing will touch them."
And they are wrong.
Grim numbers released by Dr Balaji Sadasivan yesterday showed that the cases of sexually-transmitted infections (STI) among Singaporeans aged between 10 and 19 had increased markedly — from 250 in 2002 to 678 last year.
"Many of them are still in school," said Dr Balaji. "It is a tragedy when a young person, full of life and potential, becomes limited by a positive diagnosis of HIV."
And while STIs such as gonorrhea, genital herpes and warts constitute a majority of the cases, even the Aids virus has not spared teenagers.
By the end of last year, there were more than 40 Singaporeans aged below 19 who had tested positive for HIV. In the past, most infected youngsters acquired the virus at birth from their mothers, but this situation was changing: For example, of the seven new patients below 19 who tested positive for the virus last year, four did not get it from their mothers. Instead, unprotected sex appeared to be the culprit.
"The situation worsens if the infected person unknowingly spreads HIV to other young people by engaging in casual sex or sex with multiple partners," said Dr Balaji. The former Senior Minister of State for Health continues to oversee the HIV/Aids situation here even though he is now the Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts, and Foreign Affairs.
Some youths acquired infections from older partners, noted Dr Wei.
He cited the example of a teenage girl who started having smelly vaginal discharge and involuntary vaginal muscle contractions during sex.
"This girl was very young, maybe 18 or 19 years old, when she wrote to me a few months ago," said Dr Wei. "I think her boyfriend was older, in his 20s or even 30s, and could have been more sexually active, with a history of having multiple partners."
Concerned that the symptoms were indicative of an STI which could lead to fertility problems if untreated, Dr Wei advised her to go for a check-up.
He said that 5 per cent of the teenagers that write to him are concerned about whether they have picked up an STI.
For some, it is too late.
Speaking at an HIV awareness presentation at Temasek Secondary School yesterday, Dr Balaji revealed that between 1985 and last year, more than 470 persons in the 20-29 age group here were diagnosed with HIV.
"It is very likely that some of these were infected in their teenage years, as they may not have known that they had an HIV infection for many years, as there are no symptoms initially," he said.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) will study data on young Aids patients to see if there is any school was particularly at risk, and inform the school if so. While the study has not been conducted, Dr Balaji gave his assurance that schools will only be provided with statistical data and not the students' identities. He expressed hope that schools would take a more pro-active approach toward HIV education.
"That a school is not aware of any of its students having HIV does not mean that none of its students have HIV, and does not mean that its students are not at risk," he said.
It is natural for young people to be curious about sex, he conceded, but they also need to know about the consequences of pre-marital sex, such as unwanted pregnancies and STIs.
Education is important — especially so when the Internet and other media may provide misleading information, he said, adding that students need to have accurate information about Aids so that they can protect themselves.
The MOH's deputy director of communicable disease policy and HIV prevention, Dr Jeffery Cutter, said an STI/HIV education programme by the Health Promotion Board's was being fine-tuned and would be rolled out next year.
The programme was taken up by 112 secondary schools last year, and reached 43,000 students. Standard Chartered Bank's HIV — Be Aware, Be Safe programme has been picked up by 47 schools, or 20,000 students.
"In addition to the abstinence message, which is always important, we will also have stronger messages in areas like safer sex, making choices, lifestyle choices and so on," said Dr Cutter. - /fa