Editorial

Sex should not be a dirty word because it is only when wrongly used that sex has bad consequences. Still, politicians have been scared of tackling such consequences for fear of offending social mores.

For the past 11 years, the government has been promising a national sexual health policy that would give the country a clear direction but this never materialised.

In the meantime, figures of rampant casual sex and teenage pregnancies continued to rise. Sexually transmitted infections long eradicated, such as syphilis, reached alarming rates – survey after survey confirmed the Maltese as the most careless Europeans when it came to contraception.

Much as society and parents would like to believe youngsters are not having a romp in the car when their hormones take over, patients as young as 13 have turned up for testing at the GU Clinic.

But despite this disturbing reality, the powers that be continued to bury their head in the sand, playing for time and delaying the release of the policy that, admittedly, could be controversial.

In 2008, The Times had reported that the policy would be finalised “in the coming weeks”. In 2009, the third and final version of the policy was one of the casualties of Budget 2010, leaving GU Clinic head Philip Carabot – the lone crusader of sexual health in Malta – disappointed anything would ever materialise.

In March 2010, Health Minister Joseph Cassar announced the final touches were being made to its three-year budget. This, he said, would “be done this week”, then the policy would go to Cabinet and on for public consultation. Fast forward to June and The Sunday Times again reported the policy should be delivered “in the coming weeks”.

Then, just as everybody was about to lose heart, the government allocated €200,000 in its financial estimates for Budget 2011, the first concrete sign the policy could finally be brought out of the incubator. Dr Carabot’s reaction was: “I can retire a happy man”.

Hope has been further strengthened by the Health Ministry’s commitment to give a concrete date to release the policy for public consumption by mid-November.

The sum voted in the Budget is still far off the estimated €1.5 million necessary to implement the policy but it is the first step to rolling out the blueprint for the way forward in addressing society’s sexual health effectively.

A policy will not resolve all society’s ills and cure the sexual health problems the country faces but it is crucial in giving direction and, finally, the government seems to be on the right track.

Young people have to be properly educated and provided with accessible comprehensive information on the methods available to prevent infection and pregnancy. Conservative social mores have no place in classrooms and while nobody is advocating sex, there is no point burying our head in the sand because teenage sexual activity is alive and well in Malta.

Although late, Dr Cassar has to be commended for finally declaring that sexual health has to be given its due importance.

This is an urgent matter. The latest GU Clinic report highlighted the worrying trend of unprotected sex, with just 9.6 per cent of all 2,632 patients saying they consistently used a condom and 71 per cent never having used one.

The fact that the rate of casual sex remains consistently high and condom use so low means whatever we have been teaching is clearly not working and has to be revised.

Let’s get talking about sex now!