Students call for more information about STDs
April designated as National STD Awareness Month
By Allyssa Lee
Growing concerns about sexual health and the prevalence of
sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have prompted a National STD
Awareness Month in April.
Members of the American Social Health Association, a national
nonprofit health education group, are encouraging organizations and
businesses, as well as the media, to raise public awareness of one
of the nation’s most urgent and pervasive health problems,
officials said.
A common delusion among the public is the notion that STDs are
under control, with the exception of HIV, association officials
said.
"STDs are much more prevalent in this country than people
realize," said Sharon Broom, the association’s director of public
relations. "There are 12 million new STD infections every year in
the U.S. Â more common than allergies."
Broom said this year’s emphasis will be to educate younger
people.
"This year we’re really focusing on STDs in people under 25,"
Broom said. "People in that age group are being exposed to STDs
more than they actually realize."
Indeed, members of UCLA’s Student Health Services expressed the
importance of sexual health education among college students.
"I think (students) are surprised when they find out that one
out of 10 people get STDs," said Darlene Mininni, Student Health
Services coordinator of sexual health education programs.
"(Although) nothing special is planned specifically for the month
of April, we have a lot of ongoing programs talking about sexual
health in general. We don’t go into the specifics of every
individual STD, we talk about how to protect yourself from
STDs."
Broom attributes the wide spread of STDs to a relative
unwillingness to talk about confidential issues.
"We don’t hear a lot about (STDs) because people are embarrassed
to talk about it," Broom said. "The nature of these infections is
that they have no symptoms and because they are not aware of this,
they don’t know about it."
Many UCLA students said they thought information on STDs on
campus was very important.
"Everybody worries about AIDS, but a lot of people don’t worry
about gonorrhea or chlamydia," said Nancy Lucchese, a senior double
majoring in English and history. "People don’t know that it often
causes sterility in women. It’s really important … to be aware of
that."
Others said the lack of information provided on campus
encourages the false notion that STDs are not a pervasive health
issue.
"There’s a misconception that (STDs are) treatable and under
control," said Armando Cervantes, a third-year biochemistry
student. "If we’re more informed, we’ll take the precaution and
wear the condom when we’re having sex. It’ll stop the rapid spread
of STDs."
Sherry Edwards, a second-year pre-business economics student,
said the information on STDs wasn’t readily available to
students.
"I think (the information) should be more out there," said
Edwards. "You don’t see it on the front page. If you don’t know the
symptoms, you could go around and spread it and wouldn’t even
know."