Ministry of Health officials have announced the launch of a Chlamydia education campaign to address the rise in the spread of the sexually transmitted disease.
Director of the National HIV/AIDS Program, Dr. Nikkiah Forbes said, “this program is a true partnership between the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Ministry of Education. What was selected was appropriate school age to when this stuff can be introduced and that’s at a around grade six but its also in high schools at certain scheduled grades. It has a curriculum, it has a multi module curriculum is what I can share with you, that goes into HIV/STI prevention. If you look that up focus on youth, you’ll that this program it’s also in collaboration with researcher and physicians and public health scientists that work in the United States.”
Dr. Forbes advised citizens to practice safe sex and to get tested. She said, “in the case of where there are symptoms here is what the person could be experiencing. In the case of Chlamydia there’s pain during urination, there’s abnormal discharge from the vagina or the penis or the rectum and there can be lower abdominal pain. In the case of Gonorrhea these are the similar symptoms but they can also cause pain and swelling in the testicles or pelvic pain in women. Syphilis starts as a painless sore it then progresses, that sore will go away, it them progresses to rashes, lymph node or gland swelling and at later stages it can be very serious. It can affect the organs of the body including the heart and the brain. It is a very serious infection if untreated.
There were one hundred and thirty one confirmed cases of Chlamydia in February. The most cases are seen and young people ages 15-19 and 20-24.
