Matters sexual and that damn stork!

Mazlin Mohamad Mokhtar of Universiti Teknologi Mara conducted a study on sexual and reproductive health, knowledge, attitude and behaviour among students in two private colleges and two public universities

She found that one in two young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 are having sex. But more horrifying she discovered that 80% of them do not use contraceptives.

She said: "You would expect this kind of feedback from the general population. Certainly not among university and college students who are supposed to be better educated."

Maybe she wasn’t of half-past-six universities where students may well be not that 'better educated' as she had expected?

Mind you, there's a report somewhere that I've read, which said that circumcision could reduce the probability of HIV infection by as much as 43% - BUT, and a big BUT, it's not 100% and therefore, even a circumcised bloke could still get it.

These are some of Mazlin's findings:

(1) 34 % thought condoms cannot help prevent the spread of HIV.

No, they probably thought they could get HIV from peeping, playing with their weenies, or seating on someone’s toilet seat. Once I had a girlfriend who warned me not to sit immediately on the toilet seat after her because I might ‘catch’ her piles. Well, what can I say except that at least she cared (note the past tense - sob sob!) for me.

(2) 25% said a person could be infected with HIV through a bite from a mosquito, flea or bed bug.

Or playing with his weenie - See (1) above.

(3) 60% thought that a man would be able to tell when a woman has STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease).

I once saw a Chinese movie which showed a woman (prostitute) with STD having hugh suppurating boils on her face - very gruesome stuff.

Apart from movies, Chinese operas tend towards the overtly expressive, with emotions such as anger, fear, disgust, love, etc, or characters such as evil stepmothers, busybody neighbours, lascivious landlords, heroic scholars and mischievous but romantic aunties graphically and dramatically presented, with unmistakable poutings, grimaces, sneers, leers, and sexy winks, just in case the idiotic audience misses the message, nuances, or play-character (hero, villain or mere 'foot soldiers').

So I suppose physical symptoms of STD would be equally presented prominently as unmistakably horrible features. No, Chinese audience don’t appreciate the silent Clint Eastwood type. Most certainly for them, women with STD should preferably have red neon signs flashing an arrow at their private you-know-what. Maybe Malaysians are like those Chinese too.

(4) 53% said a person with STD would show symptoms.

Refer to the suggestion of neon signs above.

To add on woefully to our undergraduates’ lack of 'essential' knowledge a specialist in charge of the genito-urinary medicine clinic at the Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Dr Akbal Kaur, said she had seen patients as young as 14 suffering from STD as a result of unprotected sex.

"Gonorrhoea seems to be the commonest among young adults. One of the reasons is because they have multiple partners."

I must say I am confused by the last part of her statement. I am no doctor but my knowledge is enough to say that all one needs to have gnorrhoea is just one, not multiple, sex partner already suffering from that VD.

Never mind, but more worrying, Dr Akbal sees about 20 patients a day, where 50% are young adults, most of whom had never heard of genital warts, syphilis, gonorrhoea or chlamydia — all different types of STD.

Shamefully I must confess I too haven’t heard of the last one, chlamydia, so I check the dictionary which said:

(a) Any of various gram-negative, coccoid microorganisms of the genus Chlamydia, especially C. psittaci and C. trachomatis, that are pathogenic to humans and other animals, causing conjunctivitis in cattle and sheep and trachoma, urethritis, and proctitis in humans.

Thanks, but please ask Dr Louis Pasteur to ring me up this evening for a personal briefing.

(2) Any of several common, often asymptomatic, sexually transmitted diseases caused by the microorganism Chlamydia trachomatis.

Hmmm, so the microorganism Chlamydia trachomatis is the naughty culprit, but if you are still clueless, hey, just wear a Durex ‘sarong’, OK?

Now, the next one is amazing. The doctor said some youngsters did not know that sex led to having babies. She explained: "I once asked a young patient: ‘You know you are menstruating right?’

The young patient nodded. Then Dr asked her: "Do you know that because you are menstruating every month, when you have sex, you can get pregnant? She gave me a blank look."

Hey, don’t be too harsh with her. I know of many who had thought the stork brought us the babies. No chimney and they should be saved.

The good doctor revealed that those she had treated for STD, still returned with the same or a different problem because after the first experience, only a small number had been convinced to use contraceptives.

It’s quite terrifying to learn that in Malaysia, everyday, 19 people are diagnosed as HIV-positive.

Dr Akbal said if present trends of sexual behaviour continue, there would be a spike in the number of reported HIV cases. Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman, of the Malaysian AIDS Council, said: "These are shocking but not altogether surprising findings. I am sure it is not what everyone would like to believe but unfortunately that is the reality of life today."