Teenagers in Oz ending their high school will be able to access free condoms just by sending a text message, thanks to a sexual health campaign.
Teenagers in Australia ending their high school will be able to access free condoms just by sending a text message, thanks to a sexual health campaign.
Marie Stopes International, a national sexual health campaign will be operating the SMS service, which will coincide with the High School ending celebrations.The organisation's acting chief executive Jill Michaelson had said that the disgrace associated with buying condoms from supermarkets and pharmacies among young people still existed.
Statistics showed that about 20 per cent of young people have had unprotected sex.
"A lot of young people are quite self-conscious about buying condoms and some just don't have the money to do it," Sydney Morning Herald quoted Michaelson, as saying.
For the services the teenagers have to send their details to 19-SEX-TXT, and they would receive two condoms in a discreet white envelope - just in time for schoolies week.
"We're coming into a period where young people are finishing school and wanting to have fun, and we want to make sure they have a way of being informed about appropriate sexual practices,” Michaelson said.
"As we know, most teenagers these days use text messaging to communicate, so we felt this was a really good way to get through to that particular demographic,” she said.
Family Planning Queensland spokeswoman Vivienne Wynter commended the initiative and said that it was essential to explore other innovative ways to distribute safe sex messages.
"There are about 20 per cent of young people who are reporting having unprotected sex," Wynter said.
"The good news is that the vast majority of them are protecting themselves, but there is still a percentage that isn't always,” she said.
Source-ANI
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