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One-stop-shop for contraception and love bugs info launchedDate: 17/11/08 Contraception qualms and herpes hang-ups are now a thing of the past thanks to two new informative websites launched today by Australia’s leading sexual and reproductive healthcare organisation, Marie Stopes International.
www.contraceptioninfo.com.au and www.lovebugs.com.au have been developed by the organisation to provide Australian men and women with vital information on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and contraception.
“In our day-to-day dealings with both men and women, we’ve found that there are a lot of misconceptions out there about sexually transmitted infections,” said Jill Michelson, General Manager of Operations for Marie Stopes International.
“A number of women also aren’t aware of the many different contraception options available today, and therefore may not be using the ideal method for them.
“To overcome these issues, we’ve put all of the information online, so they can get comprehensive answers to their questions on contraception and ‘love bugs’ in a private and confidential environment.”
The launch of the two websites follows research which found that nearly half of all women do not take into consideration protection against STIs when choosing their method of contraception.
Based on the responses of the 1,033 women nationally who took part in the survey, findings also showed that 1 in 10 women either rarely or never felt comfortable to ask their partner to wear a condom.
“These results indicate that we need to be getting informed about the risks of STIs and the importance of condom usage at all times to protect against both STIs and unplanned pregnancy,” Ms Michelson said.
In 2007 there were over 52,000 notifications of Chlamydia nationwide. In comparison, there were just under 17,000 notifications of Chlamydia in 2000 – indicating that the rate of diagnosis has nearly tripled over the past seven years.
“Often STIs such as Chlamydia don’t have any symptoms, so can be contracted and passed on unknowingly,” Ms Michelson said.
“The only way to make sure you don’t have Chlamydia is to have an STI check-up, and the only way to avoid it is to use a condom.
“And with prevention better than cure, we need to get online and get informed to ensure our sexual health stays in shape.”
To promote and encourage visitation to the new websites, Marie Stopes International has developed an interactive sexual health quiz, entitled “Are you a sexpert?”. The quiz features on the www.lovebugs.com.au website and asks a series of STI related questions to determine if the player really is a ‘sexpert’! Promotion of the quiz and the websites will occur through an online campaign featured on social networking sites, Facebook, Hotmail and Yahoo over the next two months.
(ends) About Marie Stopes International: Marie Stopes International is a not-for-profit sexual and reproductive healthcare provider, with centres in the ACT, VIC, NSW, QLD and WA. MSI offers a range of services, including abortion, vasectomy, sexually transmitted infection check-ups, contraception and community-based health promotion and education. The organisation is part of a global international partnership that delivers vital health services to over five million people in 42 countries worldwide. Surplus funds support Marie Stopes International Australia, our charity partner, which works to save lives and improve sexual and reproductive health in Indigenous Australia and throughout the Asia-Pacific region. For more information on the organisations, visit www.mariestopes.com.au and www.mariestopes.org.au For media enquiries contact: Kath Markov, Public Relations - 0421 097 150
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