12th Annual National Condom Day Promotes Protected Sex on Valentine’s Day
The American Social Health Association has for the 12th consecutive year declared today National Condom Day. Designed to coincide with Valentine's Day -- the "day for lovers" that provides the "perfect time to think about condoms" -- National Condom Day aims to promote condom usage as a way to curb transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Although a recent NIH report on condom effectiveness and differing views on abstinence-based sex education have "created much debate regarding appropriate messages about condom use," latex condoms are, when used correctly, "the best way" for sexually active people to reduce their risk of contracting or transmitting an STD, Michael Stalker, senior director of health promotion and evaluation at ASHA, said. People with questions about condoms or STDs can call the CDC National STD and AIDS Hotlines at 1-800-342-2473 or 1-800-227-8922, 24 hours a day, seven days a week (ASHA release, 2/13). National Condom Day-related events include:
- Aggressive AIDS Prevention, Inc. is hosting a sweepstakes with prizes of a year's supply of latex male condoms. People can enter the sweepstakes on the Aggressive AIDS Prevention Web site at http://www.aggressive.org. Winners will be selected on Feb. 24 (Aggressive AIDS Prevention release, 2/14).
- Contra Costa County, Calif., is sponsoring condom giveaways at local businesses from Feb. 14 to Feb. 21. Businesses participating in the event are offering both male and female condoms and oral dams, which can act as a barrier for some forms of oral sex (Lochner, Contra Costa Times, 2/12).
- The Kaiser Media Resource for Reproductive and Sexual Health has posted on its Web site the latest information on condom use, effectiveness and public knowledge. The Web site can be accessed at http://www.kmrp.org/pages/n0108over.html (Kaiser Media Resource Project release, 2/6).
