Sex and the nation's health

The Government's 'Health of the Nation', influenced by the WHO's 'Global Strategy for Health for All by the Year 2000', pledges a reduction in sexually transmitted diseases in general and AIDS in particular. The recommendations are clearly sensible but how do you persuade people to believe and comply with the 'sensible' advice? Failure to consider public health measures involving sexual behaviour without considering how different cultures respond and interpret the advice given is bound to fail. People are individuals and there is a danger in assuming that our values and beliefs are shared by people globally. For a message to succeed it needs to be simple and direct, and portrayed in its cultural context through an appropriate medium. An appreciation that the message however sensible may clash with individual needs (eg the economics of prostitution) and research into these aspects of sexual behaviour will ensure that the message remains effective. Changing the slogans and methods of conveying the message regularly will help to reinforce key points and reduce apathy.