[Alison]

Teenagers in a Dorset seaside town will be able to get tested for the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia while visiting the beach on Friday nights.

It is part of a campaign by youth workers in Bournemouth to stop 13 to 19-year-olds from having sex too young.

The youth club bus on the seafront will also hand out keyring condom holders.

Chlamydia is the most common sexual infection with 120,000 new cases diagnosed last year. Young people accounted for two thirds of cases.

It is known as the "silent infection", as it often shows no symptoms, but if left untreated can cause infertility.

Delay sex

In men it can cause painful, swollen testicles.

The R U Sure Ur Really Ready campaign also aims to cut teenage pregnancies, which figures showed were in decline in Bournemouth from the end of 2007 to early 2008.

There were 37 conceptions among girls aged 15 to 17 between October and December 2007, compared with 25 conceptions from January to March 2008.

The campaign bus will be on the seafront every Friday night throughout August, starting this week.

Tim Fewell, strategic lead for the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy in Bournemouth, said: "This proactive campaign is very much focused on the idea of building relationships and encouraging young people to delay sexual activity until they are ready.

"It is also extremely important that we are realistic and where young people are having sexual contact, we need to ensure that they know about contraception, have access to quality information and an understanding of the consequences so they can make educated choices."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/8188538.stm

Thoughts?

[Ford]

I highly doubt that this idea will be a success;

Originally Posted by Alison

It is part of a campaign by youth workers in Bournemouth to stop 13 to 19-year-olds from having sex too young.

The youth club bus on the seafront will also hand out keyring condom holders.

.

[owner]

Originally Posted by Ford

I highly doubt that this idea will be a success;

.

You'd be surprised, little things like this can make a difference. It's a form of marketing but with a different end goal. Of course it's difficult to measure the success.

The problem with this bus idea is that it's not a very private affair. You don't really want to be seen entering the "chlamydia" bus by your peers.

I'd be interested to know how successful this campaign is. Chlamydia is the most common form of STI I believe so I'm pleased to hear that these types of campaigns are being run, I just think they need to be a little more private for those who attend.

[Ford]

Originally Posted by PaulM

...

The problem with this bus idea is that it's not a very private affair. You don't really want to be seen entering the "chlamydia" bus by your peers.

...

Exactly my thoughts, and I'm sure it will acquire said title and reputation, The Chlamydia Bus, "everyone that goes in HAS chlamydia". Therefore justifying my point; adolescents won't be willing to venture into the bus.

[Sarah!]

I think the convenience of it will make it a better success than what most people would think. Going through the whole hospital thing and tests and appointments might be something people find stressful for getting tested specially it comes to a STI. I personally would think that people would be more likely to get tested in a less stressful and more laid back environment like a beach.