Background: Compared to non-Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have higher rates of sexually transmitted infections (STI). We sought to identify the sexual risk and health care seeking behaviours service utilisation of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in a regional Australian setting. Methods: Cross-sectional survey of 155 young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (16 to 24 years) in Townsville. Results: Most participants (83%) reported ever having had sex with a median age of 15 years at first sex, ranging from 9 to 22 years. While young men reported more sexual partners in the last 12 months than young women, they were also more likely to report condom use at last casual sex (92% vs. 68%, p=0.006). Young women were significantly more likely than young men to report never carrying condoms (35% vs. 16%) however more likely to have had STI testing (53% vs. 28%, p=0.004). Of those reporting previous STI testing 29% reported ever being diagnosed with an STI. Conclusions: Our sample of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people reported an early age at first sex, variable condom use, and low uptake of STI testing. The high prevalence of selfreported STI diagnoses indicate a need for opportunistic sexual health education and efforts designed to promote the uptake of STI screening in this group.
With minimal information on sexual health provision during mass-gathering events, our aim was to describe the use of sexual health, contraceptive, sex worker and sexual assault services during the London 2012 Olympics. We analysed data from five sources. One contraceptive service provider reported a 10% increase in attendance during the main Games, while emergency contraception prescriptions rose during the main Olympics, compared to the week before, but were similar or lower than at the beginning and end of the summer period. A health telephone advice line reported a 16% fall in sexual health-related calls during the main Olympics, but a 33% increase subsequently. London sexual assault referral centres reported that 1.8% of sexual assaults were Olympics-linked. A service for sex workers reported that 16% started working in the sex industry and 7% moved to London to work during the Olympics. Fifty-eight per cent and 45% of sex workers reported fewer clients and an increase in police crack-downs, respectively. Our results show a change in activity across these services during the 2012 summer, which may be associated with the Olympics. Our data are a guide to other services when anticipating changes in service activity and planning staffing for mass-gathering events.
Background Predicting the impact on services is essential for managing large public events. Objectives To measure the impact of the 2012 Olympics on service use in London Methods Data were gathered from London sexual health services in London for July-September 2012 relating to contraception, sexual assault, sex worker services and telephone sexual health advice Results Emergency contraception prescriptions rose by 20% (from 1086 to 1353) over the Olympic and post-Olympic period as compared to the previous month. In the Brook London contraception clinics there was a 9% rise (from 1209 to 1328) in all attendance over the Olympic period as compared with 2011. In the three main sexual assault services, 1-7% of reported incidents were in clients who were visiting the Olympics. In a survey of 102 sex workers, 59% (59/102) reported fewer clients and 46% (46/102) reported more police interference and brothel closures. Sixteen (16%) were new sex workers and 7% (7/102) came to London specifically for the Olympics. Telephone advice line calls about sexual health fell by 19% (from 741 in the previous month to 622 over the Olympics) then rose by 25% (from 622 to 828) in the month after the Olympics. This increase was mainly due to calls by women with vaginal symptoms (from 112 to 184, 61% increase) and urinary tract problems (from 150 to 223, 67% increase). Conclusions Contraception service use was higher and emergency contraception prescriptions increased following the Olympics. Reported use of sexual assault services, sex workers and telephone advice was low during the Olympics but there was a large rise in requests for sexual health advice afterwards. These data will prove valuable in planning sexual health service provision for cities with large-scale events in the future Among OV respondents, 37 (35%) were non-UK residents and 59(55%) were Olympic workers. Compared with locals, OV were more likely to be male (74% vs 59%), in the 15-24 age range (44% vs 36%) and ethnically white (83% vs 68%). There were no differences in sexual orientation but a higher prevalence of acute STIs among OVs (12/108, 11.1%) vs locals (950/11158, 8.5%) was reported. A
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