CAIRNS WORKERS DRESS UP TO PROMOTE SEXUAL HEALTH MESSAGE
SEXUAL health officials are praying a fairy godmother may step in to prevent the Far North’s syphilis rate continuing to soar.
Since the start of 2018, there has been 57 cases of infectious syphilis in the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service region, compared to the yearly average of 38.
Overall, there has been more than a 1000 cases of the sexually-transmitted disease in the region, since the epidemic began in 2011.
More than 200 doctors, nurses, pharmacists, youth workers, allied health care professionals and psychologists gathered in Cairns for the Cairns Sexual Health Team’s annual professional development day to discuss ways to help combat the STD’s spread.
The workshop, called Sex Essentials, had a fairy tale theme.
Cairns Sexual Health medical director Dr Darren Russell said they were still unsure why the syphilis rate in the region was still so high.
“It’s hard with infectious diseases, because once they get into a community, they just keep going until there is a reason for them to stop,” he said.
“What we’ve been trying to do is educate the community, test people and treat them.
“Clearly what we’re doing at the moment, so far, hasn’t stopped the epidemic at this stage.
“So we’ve got a lot more work to do.”
Earlier this year, health authorities confirmed a notification of a congenital stillborn baby, who died from infectious syphilis, for the first time in five years.
Dr Russell said the team was trying to promote more public awareness of the disease, not only for the general public, but also clinicians.
“For doctors and nurses, when they’ve got a patient coming in, and they’ve got a problem that is a little unusual or could be sexually related, they need to think of syphilis and get people treated as soon as possible,” he said.
“Then their contacts are to be treated as soon as possible as well.
“If we can get enough people to treat them quickly, we might be able to stop it.”
The health professionals also discussed other topics such as hepatitis C elimination progress, changes to pap smear guidelines, and HIV prophylaxis screening.
Dr Russell said the fairy tale theme of the workshop helped brighten the mood
“This is the seventh year we’ve run Sex Essentials and the aim is to have lots of education around sexual health, but to do it in a fun way that engages the audience,” Dr Russell said.
“Hopefully, by learning and laughing, people can hold onto those messages.”
IT’S HARD WITH INFECTIOUS DISEASES, BECAUSE ONCE THEY GET INTO A COMMUNITY, THEY JUST KEEP GOING UNTIL THERE IS A REASON FOR THEM TO STOP DR DARREN RUSSELL