February 10-16, 2008: National Condom Week

What a better way to celebrate Valentine's Day then to have a National Condom Week! This is a yearly national awareness campaign to urge Americans to practice safe sex and to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, and AIDS.

National Condom Week originally started out as an educational program at the University of California - Berkeley. It has since grown into a national education campaign at high schools, colleges, many groups, and even pharmacy and condom manufacturers.

According to the American Social Health Association, it's more important now than ever to raise awareness for National Condom Week. Each year there are approximately 19 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases and almost 50% of these occur in the 15 - 24 year age group. What is so dangerous about sexually transmitted diseases and infections is that there are often no symptoms and can be passed on from person to person. Another danger is that these infections can cause future medical issues such as infertility.

Almost half of all teenagers have admitted to having sex by the time they graduate from high school. That is a lot of kids having sex so making sure they are protected is crucial. In the real world, abstinence is the best but we all know that the likelihood of that is slim to none regardless of how well we raise our children. I will definitely be preaching abstinence to my son but I'm not going to bury my head in the sand and not make him aware of safe sex practices and sex education.

During National Condom Week, participators in the program pass out free condoms, offer contraceptive use advice, demonstrate how to use a condom, and stress the importance of using a condom every time you have sex. Flyers, brochures, and events are also used during this campaign, as well as safe condom sex practices.

Safe Condom Sex Practices

The best condoms to use for safe sexual intercourse are lubricated latex condoms. Lambskin condoms are not recommended because they do not prevent the spreading of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV. Make sure that your condoms are not old and check the expiration date. Also throw out any condoms that have been in the heat or in your wallet for too long. When opening the condom package, make sure you tear it carefully so that you don't damage the condom.

Ladies - this doesn't mean you get off without any responsibility! You should learn how to put a condom on your man. You can practice with a banana until you get it right. It's so important that we are our own advocates for our health and that includes our sexual health.