'Rubba' campaign working, says minister

Annette King

Health Minister Annette King has defended the Government's $1.9 million campaign to encourage teens to use condoms.

In Parliament yesterday she cited a Health Ministry online public evaluation of its "No Rubba, No Hubba Hubba" advertisements, begun last year to help address rising rates of sexually transmitted infections.

Nearly half of respondents indicated the campaign had probably or definitely boosted their likelihood of using a condom.

United Future's health spokeswoman, Judy Turner, tagged it a "gimmicky campaign" that failed to inform teenagers about the risk of sexually transmitted infections or question whether having sex was appropriate for them.

She said a more realistic programme was needed, after an evaluation indicated "that a more multi-faceted approach is needed to produce meaningful changes in teenage sexual behaviour".

Her comments follow the publicising this week of a 2001 Christchurch School of Medicine condom-use survey of more than 1100 senior high school pupils. Of the half who were sexually active, only 45 per cent always used a condom.

Many participants did not consider it important to use one to prevent infection; avoiding pregnancy was of greater concern.

One of the researchers said in the Herald yesterday that sexuality education in schools needed to be more specific about infection risks and how to "negotiate" with a sexual partner about condom use.

Ms King dismissed Mrs Turner's concerns, but said sex education needed to be accompanied by the development of other life skills by teenagers, including how to negotiate in a relationship.