This marvelous PSA dips with aplomb into the Kama Sutra to promote condom use. It’s a response to rising numbers of STI infections in people over 50, among whom rates of sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis have doubled in the past decade.Thank longer lives, cluelessness (this generation came of age pre-AIDS, and pregnancy’s no longer an issue), Viagra, decreased vaginal lubrication, doctors who don’t discuss sex with older patients, and a distinct shortage of public health campaigns aimed at this population—until now, at least.
The PSA is the work of Safer Sex for Seniors, which has assembled a group of expert educators to advise on everything from slutty slang to sex rights in long-term care. A wide-ranging Q & A section encourages readers to submit their own questions. Their motto is Do It. Safely. I couldn’t agree more.
good piece in the Atlantic about the practical realities and why Bill Gates is trying to build a better condom: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/04/why-still-so-few-use-condoms/275301/
From “Sex and the Single Senior” in today’s New York Times Sunday Review: “Numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show rapid increases in S.T.D.’s among older people. Between 2007 and 2011, chlamydia infections among Americans 65 and over increased by 31 percent, and syphilis by 52 percent. Those numbers are similar to S.T.D. trends in the 20- to 24-year-old age group, where chlamydia increased by 35 percent and syphilis by 64 percent.” The reasons, according to Ezekiel Emmanual? Retirement communities full of healthy people, longer life, ignorance about safe sex, and Viagra. Missing? Ageism and prudery in the medical profession.