S e x mad backpackers spreading disease
By Clair Weaver
From: The Sunday Telegraph
March 28, 2010 12:00AM
PROMISCUOUS backpackers who flock to Sydney, get drunk and have unprotected s e x will be targeted by health authorities in a bid to tackle spiralling rates of s e xually transmitted infections.
New figures reveal young international travellers are more likely to binge-drink, have multiple s e xual partners and not bother with condoms than the Australian residents.
An eight-year study of about 5700 backpackers, who attended the Sydney S exual Health Centre, shows a culture of s e x, alcohol and partying is creating an STI crisis. They are also spreading diseases such as chlamydia, SPAM SPAM SPAM - I'm an idiot for trying this here on this board and h erpes to the rest of the population.
The research - which will be published in the international journal S exually Transmitted Infections - concluded that "backpackers should be a priority population for s e xual health promotion and access to services".
Researchers found that most backpackers were aged in their mid-20s and came from the United Kingdom or from Ireland.
Female backpackers were twice as likely to binge-drink, while their male counterparts were three times more likely than Australians to consume hazardous amounts of alcohol.
About half of the men and 30 per cent of women who travelled to Sydney also admitted to having more than two s e xual partners in the previous three months.
Both backpackers and Australian residents had low rates of condom use.
"International travellers are a potential risk population for either acquiring or transmitting STIs to other travellers or local residents," researchers from NSW Health and the University of NSW said.
"Many backpackers in Australia congregate in hostels and entertainment venues that are specifically targeted at them. In these situations, short-term relationships are more likely to develop and condom use may become inconsistent."
Ten per cent of backpackers admitted to having s e x while in Thailand in the previous year.
They tend to seek help for STIs at Australian public s e xual health clinics because these are free.
According to the study, up to half of people will have s e x with a new partner when they travel to another country.
