Wednesday 14th June, 2006

NZ FPA and Positive Women’s advice to be “well packed” is likely to harm kiwis

Yesterday the New Zealand Family Planning Association and Positive Women launched a new campaign called “Well Packed” that targets kiwis heading overseas, encouraging them to make sure they have condoms and chemical contraceptives packed in their luggage before they leave.

Positive Women Co-ordinator, Jane Bruning, states in the official press release that “condoms are still the best protection against HIV and most Sexually Transmitted Infections.”

Family Life International is warning all kiwis that taking the advice of the FPA and Positive Women is likely to result in you returning home with more than just souvenirs and photographs.

Condoms do not provide protection against the most common sexually transmitted Infection, HPV - which is one of the leading causes of cervical cancer in women and studies have also linked it with anal and mouth cancers.

Condoms also provide inadequate protection against Chlamydia, with approximately 300 million cases of this sexual disease reported all over the world every year. Chlamydia is also a risk factor for developing cervical cancer, and it is one of the major causes of tubal infertility, ectopic pregnancy, pelvic inflammatory disease and chronic pelvic pain.

The FPA and Positive Women are also encouraging New Zealanders to take extra chemical contraceptives with them on their travel abroad.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a reclassification of the combined oral contraceptive last year, and it is now rated by the WHO as a Group 1 carcinogen - which means that it causes cancer in humans.

Taking the FPA and Positive Women’s advice about the pill will expose New Zealand women to the serious risk of contracting cancer at some stage in their life, as well as the other medical complications and side effects associated with the use of chemical contraceptives.

Family Life International stresses once again that the most effective, and only foolproof, way of protecting yourself from sexually transmitted infections is to abstain from sexual intercourse - if you don’t have sex or sexual contact with people in other countries there is almost no chance of contracting a sexual disease such as HIV, HPV, or Chlamydia.

Family Life International also stresses that an overseas trip is temporary but some sexually transmitted infections last forever, and leaving New Zealand “well packed” is likely to see you bringing home more than just souvenirs and photographs.

ENDS

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