Media Watch
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IN THE NEWS: Support for porn condoms
Supporters of a measure requiring adult film actors to wear condoms on shoots in Los Angeles County say they've already collected most of the signatures they need to get it on the November ballot.IN THE NEWS: HIV UPDATE
Faulty condoms have again come under the spotlight after more than a million condoms given away at the ANC's 100 year anniversary celebrations were recalledIN THE NEWS: Condom distribution important for combating STIs, says councillor
More than 70 million condoms were distributed in Cape Town last year, Lungiswa James, a mayoral committee member for health, said at the Wynberg taxi rank yesterday. She made this announcement as part of the Sexually Transmitted Infection/ Condom Week campaign.IN THE NEWS: Praise latex!
According to an article printed in The Times the HIV infection rate in South Africa fell by 30% between 2000 and 2008. This significant drop has been attributed largely to increased condom use, according to a journal article which explores the effects of increased condom use and ART coverage on HIV incidence in South Africa.Surviving the holidays in safe-sex-style means HIV mentions are a must
This week the Sowetan featured an article detailing how to survive the festive season safe-sex-style.
Given that protecting oneself against HIV is a major safe sex priority in South Africa (one only has to look to the most recent statistics released by the Department of Health on Wednesday), any safe sex guide should - along with other issues like unplanned pregnancy and STIs - zero in on HIV and how it can be prevented.
The article begins by drawing parallels between unsafe sex and the excessive alcohol consumption that is more likely to happen when people are letting their hair down over the festive season.
And while the links between a few-too-many and unsafe sex are well documented, the ‘how-to’ (or how-not-to) list, which accompanies the piece, covers everything but the risk of HIV and how to prevent it.
Mbalula and the condom caper
“South Africans worry more about corruption than burst condoms, ” wrote a journalist of Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula’s sex scandal in today’s edition of The Times. In terms of political concerns it might be true that ‘burst condoms’ and the sex scandals they ‘represent’ rank rather low on the “why should I care?” scale, sliding in somewhere in the region of a “so-what?”
But the crux of the matter is that the message Mbalula is putting out about the efficacy of condoms could deliver a blow to the already much maligned and under-used (see SA’s shocking pregnancy stats) method of prevention.
Cheers for safe sex
The Department of Health along with the Society for Family Health, the SA Business Coalition on HIV-AIDS and SA Breweries are launching a programme which will see more than 845 million condoms distributed along with alcohol deliveries to tavern and shebeens, for the next five years.From China with love
Reports in both the Sowetan and The Citizen today talk of the ongoing debacle of supplying female condoms within South Africa.
The growing need for such a form of protection and contraception has been highlighted by the 11 million unqualified condoms which nearly made it to our clinics ready for distribution.
Too quick to condemn girls’ use of condoms
A slightly quirky article on schoolgirls keeping their socks up with condoms really shows that journalists need to pull their socks up when it comes to basic reporting.
An African Eye News Service (AENS) article replicated for editions of The New Age (TNA) and the Daily Sun reported that schoolgirls in Mpumalanga have fund a nifty new use for condoms, which they use as garters to keep their school socks from pooling around their ankles.
But it seems that the article only lays out half the story, forgetting to ask a number of important questions.
SA’s approach to ‘underage’ sex is two-faced
Today the Mail and Guardian’s Mia Malan gets to grips with the struggle on how to address teen pregnancy, which sees conservatives and human rights approach activists at loggerheads.
Malan explores the rift between the two parties, who advocate different means of addressing the twin troubles of soaring teen pregnancy rates and HIV infection.
The article has quotes from those who believe that sex education and life skills programmes should be strengthened in schools and that condoms should be made available.
However conservative elements located in the health and education departments fear that these measures would encourage youngsters to have sex. They are reportedly sticking to their ‘abstain’ or ‘be faithful’ guns as the best way to prevent unwanted pregnancy and HIV.
