Increasing awareness of STDs

Recently, a renowned Hollywood actor came out in public and announced that he is HIV positive. This announcement was a big step, considering how difficult it is to come to terms with such a reality and then to tell the world about it. But he did it. It was probably a tad bit easier for him because he doesn’t live in a society where even mentioning sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and sex education are considered taboo.

Living in Pakistan, I see how difficult it is for people to openly talk about sex education with their children. Some parents avoid the talk for as long as they possibly can, because they are embarrassed or feel awkward discussing this topic with their children. What they don’t realise is that this talk is important to create in the child an awareness not only of reproduction, but of the repercussions of unprotected sex, as well as of child abuse and rape.

People are scared of going to doctors and discussing their sexual health issues because of the fear of what they might find out and also because of the fear of being judged by society, if they are indeed diagnosed with an STD. They feel that if they were to be tested positive for any STD, they would not be able to show their face in public. Sadly, they fear discussing this even with their own families.

The Express Tribune recently carried an excellent story on STDs by Umer Farooq, which gave some important statistics pertaining to Pakistan. The story highlighted how the country lags behind in even keeping up statistical records when it came to STDs mainly because a significant section of the population refuses to seek help openly. What is more troubling is that there may be carriers of STDs who might end up infecting others because they don’t know they may be suffering from a disease.

I feel there needs to be emphasis on how important it is to spread awareness on this topic; how important it is to make our children aware of the numerous dangers out there that they must protect themselves from. They must also be encouraged to speak up on the issue and seek help from their families and doctors, regarding any confusion they have.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2015.