Analysis of Public Health and Sexual Health Strategies

This discussion post critically evaluates a webinar and a research article concerning sexual health initiatives within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. The post highlights the impact of the educational radio drama, Kasa Por Yam (KPY), in improving sexual health awareness and engagement. It contrasts the webinar's emphasis on the high prevalence of STIs among youth with the article's findings on the success of interventions from 2006-2012. The key issues identified include a lack of awareness about STIs and reduced inclination to seek screening. The post suggests solutions such as sexual wellness clinics, free contraceptives, counselling, and gender-appropriate care, referencing the 'condom trees' initiative and advanced screening methods in remote regions. The student references relevant articles and studies to support their analysis of the public health strategies and their effectiveness in addressing the challenges of sexual health within the community.

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1DISCUSSION POST
Upon critically evaluating the content of the webinar and the research article, it can be
said that a number of efforts have been undertaken to address the increased prevalence of
sexual health infection among the Aboriginal and Torres Islander community members. The
research article authored by Fagan et al. (2015), reflected the success rate of sexual health
wellness initiatives between the time span of 2006 to 2012 [1]. The overall findings of the
researchers suggested that the education entertainment radio drama Kasa Por Yam (KPY)
based on the central theme of sexual health awareness helped to acquire positive community
engagement which helped to improve the existing knowledge related to sexual health and
wellbeing among the community members [1]. However, the content of the webinar reflects
that the prevalence of STIs is specifically higher among the Aboriginal and Torres Islander
youth and requires improved prevention measures [2]. The effect of the educational radio
drama (KPY) had created a positive shift of the perspective on STIs but is still not substantial
to create an overall positive impact [2]. The key issues identified with respect to the poor
sexual wellness scenario include, lack of awareness about the aetiology, symptoms and
pathophysiology of the disorders as well as reduced inclination to seek screening and
diagnosis for the infections [3]. The problems could be effectively addressed with the
installation of sexual wellness clinic that offer regular screening for STIs and provision of
free of cost contraceptive devices such as condoms and dissemination of awareness and
sexual health counselling to young individuals to ensure a positive health outcome [4]. The
webinar on Public Health and Sexual Health discusses the concept of ‘condom trees’ in
Kimberley that provided access to condoms and reduced the prevalence of STIs in people [2].
Further, provision of gender appropriate care and advanced screening methods at clinics such
as ‘pap smear test’ and urethral swab testing along with Partner notification and HIV testing
within the rural and remote regions of Australia can help to fetch positive outcome [4].

2DISCUSSION POST
References:
[1] Fagan PS, Robertson HK, Pedrana AE, Raulli A, Crouch AA. Successes in sexual health
communications development, programmatic implementation and evaluation in the Torres
Strait region 2006 to 2012. Australian and New Zealand journal of public health. 2015
Jun;39(3):270-6.
[2] 2. Mein J. Public Health and Sexual Health [Internet]. 2019 [cited 24 September 2019].
Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD-LVurFKWg&feature=youtu.be
[3] Ward J, Wand H, Bryant J, Delaney-Thiele D, Worth H, Pitts M, Byron K, Moore E,
Donovan B, Kaldor JM. Prevalence and correlates of a diagnosis of sexually transmitted
infection among young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: A national survey.
Sexually transmitted diseases. 2016 Mar 1;43(3):177-84.
[4] Silver BJ, Guy RJ, Wand H, Ward J, Rumbold AR, Fairley CK, Donovan B, Maher L,
Dyda A, Garton L, Hengel B. Incidence of curable sexually transmissible infections among
adolescents and young adults in remote Australian Aboriginal communities: analysis of
longitudinal clinical service data. Sex Transm Infect. 2015 Mar 1;91(2):135-41.