The Uninspired Manifesto

Monday, September 17, 2007

Sexual diseases flourish in Mobile County

So, I took the weekend off because I was out of town, only to come back to this not so shocking news piece. From AL.com.
Last year in Mobile County, 4,629 new cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis were reported -- enough instances of the sexually transmitted diseases to account for one out of every 87 people, according to a Press-Register review of state and federal statistics.

That was about three times the rate in New York City and more than twice as high as Washington, D.C.

...

A lack of education weighs heavily on a county's rate, health officials said.

In Alabama public schools, students are taught abstinence-based sex education as part of a half credit of health education in high school. Students learn that "abstinence is the only protection against pregnancy, HIV/AIDs and STDs," said state Department of Education spokeswoman Edith Parten.

The subject of condoms, under the state course of study guidelines, is not broached, she said.

This is just a guess, but I'm willing to bet the population of Mobile County is no where near that of either Washington D.C. or New York City.
posted by Nick at 12:19 PM

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