AWARE is organizing a public forum, in partnership with Action for AIDS (AFA). The forum aims to educate and disseminate factual information about HIV/AIDS and STIs, while dispelling myths related to their transmission, detection and prevention. The focus is on women and how they can protect themselves.

29 September 2006

For Immediate Release

AWARE Organises Public Forum – Sex In The City: Protect You and Your Family

Date: 30 September 2006, Saturday
Time: 2 – 4pm
Venue: Singapore Post Centre Pavilion (Theatrette) Singapore Post Centre (Near Paya Lebar MRT) 10 Eunos Road 8, Level 5

The number of acute sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in women in Singapore over the past 5 years is on the increase.  This increase has also been seen in the younger age group (10-19) as Singaporeans are becoming sexually active at a younger age. In young women, there was an increase of 250% from 179 cases in 2000 to 443 in 2000 whereas the rise in male cases was not as high, increasing by 180% from 134 in 2000 to 235 in 2005 respectively.

Research shows an alarming trend in young and educated women in Singapore who refrain from using contraception even as they have multiple sex partners whilst engaging in casual sex. Data from a study conducted at the DSC Women’s Clinic in 2005 showed that 23.5% of 639 patients were diagnosed with STI’s. Of the non symptomatic women who had attended a STI screen, 78% were diagnosed with a STI.

Instances of HIV infection in Singapore has also risen sharply over the last decade. Heterosexual sex is the main mode of HIV transmission in Singapore and as of June 2005 there were 291 cases of women infected with HIV in Singapore.

AWARE (Association of Women for Action and Research) is organizing a public forum, in partnership with Action for AIDS (AFA), on 30th September at the Singapore Post Centre Auditorium. The forum aims to educate and disseminate factual information about HIV/AIDS and STIs, while dispelling myths related to their transmission, detection and prevention. The focus is on women and how they can protect themselves.

Speakers at the forum include Dr Priya Sen, Deputy Head Department of STI Control, Dr. Anthony Yeo from Counselling and Care Centre, Benedict Thambiah, Action For Aids, Khoo Hoon Eng, Executive Committee Member of AWARE, Ho Lai Peng from Communicable Disease Centre (CDC). The forum aims to reveal hard facts about Sex in the City - Women and STIs in Singapore.

It is time for women in Singapore to take control of their sexual and reproductive health so as to prevent the adverse consequences of sexually transmitted infections as this not only impacts the individual female but also affects her family and household.

Women need to empower themselves to take charge of their sexual relationships and insist on the use of condoms during sexual intercourse if there is any risk of their partner having been exposed to STIs and/or HIV. Women have to be pro-active in order to protect themselves from getting infected.

There will be discussion on the challenges, difficulties and conflicts in modern marriages and sharing life with another person. What can make keeping marriages intact even more difficult are the pressures that globalisation and the fast paced lifestyle in modern society bring.   Dr. Yeo will share his views on how to be aware of these challenges and learn ways to deal with them to ensure that marriages will thrive and survive.

The forum will see a discussion on why women feel that they cannot say,” No” to husbands, boyfriends and partners who ask them for sex and why they feel that making demands for safe sex practices is not within their reach. The emphasis will be on how women need to be smart and safe in order to protect themselves.

It will aim to disclose facts and debunk myths on HIV/AIDS.  We hope to convince women on the importance of getting tested and at the same time show that living with AIDS is possible.

Some real stories of different HIV-infected women at different ages will be told - a young girl who was unknowingly infected by her mother, a single woman, a divorcee with children, a widow with children, and an elderly lady - their experiences with HIV and how living with HIV affects them at different stages.

AWARE in partnership with Action for Aids (AfA)