Confederation launches new campaign against sexually transmitted infections
Published: Thursday, Apr 25th 2024, 14:31
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According to a survey, less than half of the population is aware of sexually transmitted infections such as syphilis, gonorrhea or chlamydia. The federal government's new "Love Life" campaign now aims to increase prevention.
On Thursday, various motifs, which will be seen on posters and on the internet from Friday, were presented to the media in Bern. The new main message from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) is: "Do your safer sex check". Only then are you "Ready!" for sex. Being ready for a sexual encounter means finding out about adequate protection recommendations in advance by means of the safer sex check.
The aim of increasing awareness is to eliminate the transmission of HIV and the hepatitis B and C virus by 2030, as the federal government wrote. Infections with other sexually transmitted infections are also to be reduced.
The campaign focuses on risk-based protection and testing recommendations for the population. To this end, a safer sex check has been developed that shows individual options for action. The condom remains an important means of prevention, but is no longer the focus of the campaign.
Little knowledge available
A new representative survey on knowledge about safer sex commissioned by the federal government shows how important it still is to raise awareness. According to the survey, almost 80 percent of respondents were able to name HIV/Aids as a sexually transmitted infection. However, less than 50 percent were aware of syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, HPV or viral hepatitis.
Condoms are named as the most important protection option. 88% of respondents know that it provides reliable protection against HIV infection. However, more than half of respondents wrongly assume that it also reliably protects them against syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, viral hepatitis and the human papilloma virus (HPV).
The survey conducted in November 2023 among 1134 people aged 15 and over also shows differences between the language regions: While around 60 percent of respondents in German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino have dealt with sexually transmitted infections, this figure is only 41 percent in French-speaking Switzerland. The importance of the topic also varies: In French-speaking Switzerland, only 25% of respondents consider the topic to be "very important". In German-speaking Switzerland, the figure is 34% and in Ticino 47%.
In addition to the check, the lovelife.ch website provides further in-depth information, for example on protection, risks, symptoms, tests and HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), as the Confederation writes in a press release. Users can also find a directory of counseling and testing centers.
The new "Love Life" campaign is one of the measures to implement a national program to combat sexually transmitted infections. This was adopted by the Federal Council in November 2023.
Major medical advances
Switzerland can look back on many years of prevention work in the area of HIV and hepatitis B and C viruses. In addition to prevention, major progress has also been made in treatment, according to the Confederation. Thanks to increased testing, other sexually transmitted infections can also be detected and treated more frequently.
The number of HIV infections has fallen continuously since the introduction of its monitoring in 1985 and has dropped to less than 500 cases per year in the last three years. Reporting figures for hepatitis B and C have also been declining for some time. In 2022, 1110 cases of hepatitis B and 1039 cases of hepatitis C were reported to the FOPH.
An increasing number of infections have been recorded for years for both gonorrhea and chlamydia. According to the federal government, this is mainly due to the fact that more and more people are getting tested more frequently.
lovelife.ch
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