Lee Suckling: What teens need to know about STIs

Two new studies have been released this month explicitly looking at young men's knowledge of STIs. Photo / 123rf

When I came out in my late-teen years, the very first thing I was told was, "I hope you're being safe".

Ever the precocious teenager, I scoffed at the thought I needed to be asked. The question felt accusatory and even homophobic – a hangover from a generation that associated homosexuality exclusively with AIDS.

In truth, it was a pretty important question to ask. If a 19-year-old came out to me today, it's probably something I'd feel the need to bring up. That's because today, teenage men are still woefully unaware of the dangers of sexually-transmitted infections (STIs).

Two new studies have been released this month explicitly looking at young men's knowledge of STIs. One looked at sexually active men aged 13-18, the majority of which had a regular GP, but very few had ever spoken to their doctor about HIV testing – it's something only 1 in 5 had discussed.

The other found that young men did not prioritise HPV vaccination owing to the incorrect belief that HPV (and associated cancers) only affect women.

This makes me wonder, are sexually-active teenage men not receiving the information they need about STIs, or – in stereotypical teenage boy fashion – are they just not listening?

I'll admit the following was certainly true in my case: teenage men think they're invincible. You're brimming with confidence and cockiness. Because you've been under the care of parents, your exposure to the real world has been limited. You truly don't think bad things can happen to you. There's a naïve optimism about being a teenage man; as if it takes several years into adulthood to have some of that bumptiousness knocked out of you.

Unfortunately for young men from racial minority groups and young men who have sex with men, not having (or not paying attention to) STI information has consequences. One of the aforementioned studies (from the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics) notes that adolescent men from these minority groups have higher rates of HIV infection than other groups of teenage men. But they don't know about it, because they don't get tested. While the general average of undiagnosed HIV infections sits at 14.5 per cent of infected people, for 13-24 year olds, it's 51.4 per cent.

Curiously, it wasn't until age 24 when I got my first STI test. Despite being sexually active for five or six years. I didn't think STIs were something I had to worry about at such a young age, and inappropriately associated them with promiscuity. I didn't think you could get anything unless you were a "slut".

This harmful attitude likely still prevails amongst young people. They don't understand that STIs don't discriminate. STIs don't care if you've been with one person or 50. All it takes is one time, one sexual encounter, for an infection or virus to pass between two people.

So where does responsibility lie? Should we expect teachers and parents to take on even more caretaker burden by requiring them to be knowledge banks of all things sex and disease?

The studies suggest that this is the role of the paediatric medical community, and I agree. Scientists suggest doctors and nurses who see teenage patients have a direct opportunity to expand the availability of minority-competent healthcare. Sexual and racial minorities have diverse needs and healthcare workers need to learn about (and routinely offer) them.

If the problem lies in teenage men not taking in the advice they are given, this is all the more reason for the development of more effective health promotion strategies. If young people aren't listening, there's a plain and simple need to find better ways to communicate with them.