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Condom ad rules challenged

28/11/2007

Curbs on condom advertising on television and radio need to be reconsidered to improve the nation's sexual health, a major report has concluded today.

The call for a review is one of 27 points made in the annual report of the Independent Advisory Group (IAG) on Sexual Health and HIV.

For condom use to be normalised, the IAG says, the guidance preventing condom adverts before 21:00 (19:00 on Channel 4) and restrictions on showing a condom out of its wrapper need to be reviewed.

The Family Planning Association (FPA) has backed the recommendation, describing current rules as having a "Victorian attitude" towards condom advertising.

Last week reports warned that cases of HIV and STI are continuing to rise in the UK, with the Health Protection Agency (HPA) concluding that efforts to reduce rates overall are not succeeding.

"It is depressing that while STI and HIV rates continue to rise there is guidance curbing the advertising of condoms on television and radio," said IAG chair Baroness Gould.

"This seems to be a misplaced morality. Condoms should be widely available and widely accepted and we should do everything we can to promote the normalisation of condom use."

FPA chief executive Anne Weyman added: "This isn't just about advertising - it's about taking public health seriously and normalising the subject of condoms.

"If condoms are advertised before the watershed, young people will grow up in a culture where they're familiar with seeing, talking about and most importantly using condoms."

To normalise condom use then the IAG says it is also important for sex and relationships education to become a statutory part of school lessons.

The IAG report also claims that there could be a possible postcode lottery of sexual health and contraceptive services as commissioning devolves to a local level.

It says there is a public health imperative in having a full coverage of these services.

To achieve this there should be national performance indicators around HIV, contraception and early and late abortion.

Gaps need to be addressed in sexual health and contraceptive services offered by GPs, the report says, and primary care trusts need to improve their knowledge of what services are provided by MPs.

"Now, more than ever, it is important to have 'whole society' involvement and approval in sexual health services," Baroness Gould concluded.

"Helping people have good sexual health will mean providing top quality services and supportive and informative sex education."

The Department of Health said it welcomed the report and would be "looking at it carefully".

"The NHS and primary care trusts must be free to prioritise their local funding according to local needs. However, improving sexual health has been a key NHS priority for the last two years," a spokesperson said.

"This is why we produced a national strategy for sexual health in 2001 and why sexual health was a key element of the public health white paper."