The Campbelltown Eagles and Sydney South West Area Health Service (SSWAHS) Sexual Health Service (Campbelltown Clinic) have developed a partnership to raise awareness of sexual health and address the issue of increase Sexually Transmissible Infections among young people.

The SSWAHS sexual health service work within local communities throughout south west Sydney to encourage people to talk sexual health, learn the facts about STIs and to access services for testing and treatment. Campbelltown Eagles believe it is important for their players to stay healthy, not just physically but mentally and socially as well and taking care of their sexual health plays a important role in doing that. The Eagles also acknowledge that poor sexual health is a larger issue among the wider community and would like to make a positive impact through leading by example and tackling sexual health straight on.

Young people with recent partner changes have been identified as a priority population group in the 2006 - 2010 NSW Health STI Strategies. With the recent increase in Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea among young people in NSW the Campbelltown Eagles and the SSWAHS Sexual Health Service (Campbelltown Clinic) felt it was essential to focus on condom use and regular testing among their football teams. Chlamydia notifications has increased from 3,509 cases in 2000 to 12,382 cases in 2007 (181 per 100,000 population) and gonorrhoea increased from 1,060 cases in the year 2000 to (1,373 cases in 2007).

In the coming months the SSWAHS sexual health service will be conducting outreach to the Eagle's training session to raise awareness of sexual health and conduct urine collection to test for the most common STI (Chlamydia).

SSWAHS Sexual Health Service info: Clinical sexual health services for the population of Sydney South West Area Health Service are provided at three locations: Bigge Park Sexual Health Clinic at Liverpool, Campbelltown Sexual Health Clinic and RPA Sexual Health Clinic at Camperdown. Clinical services are free, confidential and no Medicare card is required.

Core services provided by these clinics are sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening and management, HIV management, Hepatitis A & B vaccination and post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV, as well as consultancy for health care workers. Also provided are several specialised clinics, including men-only clinics and sex worker clinics at RPA and Bigge Park Sexual Health Clinics. Specialist sexual health counsellors are available at all sites. Both Bigge Park and RPA Sexual Health Clinics also operate as a secondary needle and syringe program outlet, providing safe injecting equipment, information, referral, resources and safe disposal of used equipment. Sexual health service staff actively participate in clinical research and undergraduate & postgraduate teaching.

The programs delivered by the HARP Health Promotion Team are an essential part of the NSW population based response to current STI, HIV and Hepatitis C epidemiology and include professional education and training, resource and policy development, community awareness campaigns, outreach education and facilitating access to services for their priority population groups. Programs are provided in partnership with relevant services such as sexual health clinical services, drug and alcohol services, youth services, Aboriginal Community controlled health services and NGOs. Specific health promotion project portfolios include Aboriginal women, Aboriginal men, gay and other homosexually active men, past and current injecting drug users, people living with Hepatitis C, sex workers and people living with HIV/AIDS Tim Duck A/Manager HARP HP Team (Liverpool) HIV/AIDS & Related Programs Health Promotion Team (Liverpool) Sexual Health Service, SSWAHS Hugh Jardine Building Liverpool Hospital NSW 2170 Ph: (02) 9828 5754 | Mob: 0457 560 230 Fax: (02) 9828 5955

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