Sense Project

A Switzerland company manufactures condoms for 12-year-old boys, and plans to distribute them outside of Switzerland. While it’s only a minority of 12-year-olds that are sexually active (and the sex is typically very occasional), I believe safer sex supplies should still be available for them, and a condom that fits your penis size is also great if you want to practice with it, which we always encourage people to do in workshops.

A standard condom has a diameter of 52mm in comparison with the Hotshot’s 45mm. Both are the same length – 190mm.

According to a study of 13 to 20-year-olds, a quarter said that a standard condom was too large.

Hilary Pannack, of teenage pregnancy charity Straight Talking Peer Education, said: ‘We know young people are having sex and if this is what it takes to protect them, we need to go along with it.’

Condoms in ‘extra small’ for boys age 12 set for Britain’s shelves soon @ Mail Online

So, how can we fight HIV stigma in our own lives and within our communities?

Well, breaking the silence is key!!! So, take responsibility for HIV prevention and challenge behaviours, attitudes and beliefs that foster and/or promote HIV stigma. Choose your words so as to avoid stigmatizing others and treat anyone, including those who are HIV positive, with respect. In the end, be informed about how to protect yourself and take charge of your sexual health!

World AIDS Day is coming up on December 1^st and it’s an awesome opportunity for people around the world to remember and support people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS.

It has been estimated that “there are now 33.2 million people living with HIV, including 2.5 million children. During 2007, 2.5 million people became newly infected with the virus. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35″(UNAIDS, 2008). Indeed, these shocking statistics call for a dramatic increase in awareness - an awareness that is vital to the improvement of sexual health education and our fight against prejudice.

It is for these reasons that the Sense Project wants to engage people online throughout the month of November in ways that relate to World AIDS Day and its mission. Starting this week, we will be posting a series of myth busting questions and answers as well as opinion polls for you to participate in. We hope that you will take this as a fun opportunity to learn and educate others about this very important issue.

Please make your voices heard!!!

I came across this article today. It is worth checking out for yourself. But, in any case, here are some key points and concerns:

Catholic schools in Yellowknife will not be providing the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination shots to its students. Sandy Lee, minister of health and social services for the Northwest Territories does not agree with this decision and ensures that the shots will still be provided by the ministry.

That being said, many HPV types can lead to a variety of cancers, cervical cancer being the one most commonly associated with this STI. So, while the ministry will still continue to provide the shots, the Catholic School Board has just made it rather difficult for its students to obtain it.

Interestingly, the board does provide other vaccines. So, why not HPV shots? Well, apparently, they want the parents to decide if their child(ren) should get the vaccine or not. Unfortunately for them, though, if they allow other forms of immunization then this argument doesn’t really stand on its feet.

Perhaps an education campaign would have been a better way to go…Who needs more barriers?!