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SOCIETY FOR PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY STANDARDS INC.

Sex partners traceable under proposed law

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People with sexually transmitted infections could be forced to disclose their sexual histories to public health officers under a new law introduced to Parliament this week.

The Health (Protection) Amendment Bill passed its first reading on Thursday. The bill would give greater powers to public health officers and ban the use of tanning beds for under-18s.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman said the measures were to better protect the public from the risk of infectious diseases.

The bill would make it an offence to not comply with “contact tracers”, health officials whose role was to determine who a person with a transmissible disease had been in contact with and whether they could have contracted the disease too.

Coleman said voluntary compliance with health officials was the preferred option but provisions in the bill allowed for incremental interventions. “Currently contact tracing is voluntary,” he said. “Some people do not co-operate.”

The bill also provides for the District Court to make public health orders which could see individuals detained in hospitals, prevented from working or barred from using public transport.

As well, it places HIV, gonorrhea and syphilis on the list of notifiable diseases, meaning more information about cases would be collected by health authorities.

See full story:

by Blake Crayton-Brown. 8/11/14

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10718841/Sex-partners-traceable-under-proposed-law

 

Drug-resistant sex diseases now ‘endemic’

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Sexually transmitted diseases [STDs] brought under control last century could be coming back as new strains find ways to cheat antibiotic treatments, a report warns.

Research published in the New Zealand Medical Journal today charts the changing face of drug-resistant disease during the past two decades, and found resistance to a raft of infections has become “endemic”.

In Australia and Sweden, strains of gonorrhoea have become untreatable – a problem labelled an “urgent threat” by the United States Centres for Disease Control.

No-one has a true picture of infection rates in New Zealand because sexually transmitted infections, except Aids, are non-notifiable and monitoring is done voluntarily, mainly when people go to the doctor with symptoms.

For full story by Matt Stewart see:

The Dominion Post News. Friday September 26. 2014, P. A4.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/10546207/Drug-resistant-sex-diseases-now-endemic

High rate of chlamydia in teens

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Staggeringly high” rates of chlamydia have been reported among New Zealand teenage girls.

A report by Environmental Science and Research (ESR) was the first time data was collated from every laboratory in the country on people tested, as well as the number of new sexually transmitted infection (STI) cases found.

It found 5064 cases of chlamydia per 100,000 population in teenage girls aged 15 and over.

This was a “staggeringly high” rate, the report authors said.

Because only six per cent of teenage boys were tested for STIs, compared to 35 per cent of teenage girls, the real number of men with chlamydia was likely higher. [Read more…]

Throat Cancer Link to Oral Sex Gains Notice – The New York Times

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For many years, smoking and drinking were considered the dominant risk factors for cancers of the throat. But on Monday, The Guardian, a British newspaper, reported that the actor Michael Douglas believed that his throat cancer was caused by an infection acquired during oral sex, highlighting a trend that has alarmed many scientists….

For full story go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/health/throat-cancer-link-to-oral-sex-gains-credence.html?_r=0

The Guardian quoted Mr. Douglas as saying, “Without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV, which actually comes from cunnilingus.”

Indeed, in recent years scientists have documented a steep rise in throat cancers caused by a strain of HPV that can be transmitted through oral sex. The virus, human papillomavirus Type 16, also causes many cases of cervical cancer in women.

In the 1980s, only a small number of throat cancers were linked to HPV infection. Historically, patients who developed the disease were in their 70s and were heavy smokers and drinkers.

Now, about 70 percent of all throat cancers are caused by HPV, up from roughly 15 percent three decades ago. Patients are now more frequently middle-aged husbands and fathers who are economically well off, nonsmokers and not particularly heavy drinkers. Men are three times more likely to be diagnosed than women with HPV-related throat cancer.

There are many strains of HPV, and the virus is so common that at some point most sexually active adults are exposed to it. A majority of people fight off the infection and do not develop symptoms. But in a very small number of people chronic infection causes oropharyngeal cancers near the base of the tongue and the area just behind the mouth….

In a study presented last weekend at a conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Dr. Haddad and other researchers showed for the first time that the partners of people with throat cancers caused by HPV were not at greater risk of developing oral HPV infections themselves. The study involved more than 200 people followed for about a year.

Dr. Haddad said the findings suggest that spouses and longtime partners do not need to take special precautions or change their sexual behavior.

For full story go to:

Throat Cancer Link to Oral Sex Gains Notice. By Anahad O’Connor. 3 June 2013.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/health/throat-cancer-link-to-oral-sex-gains-credence.html?_r=0

Notes:

What is HPV, and what are the risks? 4 June 2013

See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22751349

Can Oral Sex Cause Throat Cancer? 4 June 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22751349 July 4, 2013.

Yes, oral sex can lead to cancer. June 4, 2013

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/03/health/hpv-oral-cancer-explainer/index.html

You’re Teaching My Child What? The Truth About Sex Education – Miriam Grossman M.D.

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Miriam Grossman, M.D., is a US-based board certified child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist. Dr Grossman writes and speaks internationally to parents, students, educators, legislators and health professionals internationally on the dangers of political correctness in her profession. She has lectured at the UN Commission on the Status of Women and in Britain’s House of Lords.

Dr. Grossman’s mission is to highlight the dangers of the anything-goes, condom-based approach to sexual health. With examples from cutting edge research, she proves that sex is a serious matter, and can never be ‘casual’, especially for girls.

She also reports on her examination of NZ-based educational resources and websites hosted by groups such as Family Planning, Rainbow Youth and others — many funded by the government, available to schools, and targeted at students.

Note: Dr Miriam Grossman has been criticised for drawing attention to the dangers of promiscuous young persons engaging in “high risk” sexual practices such as oral sex and claiming that there may be a causal link  between such practices and the prevalence of certain types of oral cancers. Her detractors claim she is spreading erroneous and malicious propaganda directed at undermining the work of charitable entities such as Rainbow Youth Inc. the New Zealand AIDS Foundation and the Family Planning Association.

The purported link between oral sex and certain types of oral cancers has recently been highlighted by two-time Oscar winner Michael Douglas, who has made international headlines with his reported candid personal disclosures.:

See: http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/8749817/Douglas-Oral-sex-gave-me-cancer

Asked by The Guardian if he [Actor – Michael Douglas] blamed his throat cancer to a lifetime of drinking and smoking, the star of Basic Instinct and Fatal Attraction was remarkably frank:

“No. Because without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV [human papillomavirus], which actually comes about from cunnilingus.”

Douglas, 68, who is married to Catherine Zeta-Jones, found out he had oral cancer three years ago but he is now working towards a full recovery.

HPV is a sexually transmitted virus best known as a cause of cervical and anal cancer and genital warts. Experts believe it is responsible for an increasing number of oral cancers.

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Also see: Throat Cancer Link to Oral Sex Gains Notice. By Anahad O’Connor. 3 June 2013.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/health/throat-cancer-link-to-oral-sex-gains-credence.html?_r=0