Prevention Matters

To illustrate the impact of overpopulation on endangered species, The Center for Biological Diversity’s Endangered Species Condom Project is distributing free endangered species condoms. The Center will hand out 350,000 condom packets, which depict six separate species that are threatened by overpopulation. The polar bear, snail darter, spotted owl, American burying beetle, jaguar, and coquí guajón rock frog each appear on packets with their own clever safe-sex slogan. Each package contains information on the species, facts about overpopulation and the extinction crisis, and suggestions on how to stabilize the human population. The condoms will be distributed across the country by a network of 5,000 volunteers.

Condoms are not only useful in protecting against overpopulation; they also protect against the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including chlamydia. Chlamydia is a bacterial infection that is extremely common among adolescents and young adults. CDC estimates there are about 3 million new cases annually. Left untreated in women, Chlamydia can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease which in turn can cause infertility, ectopic pregnancy, and other health concerns.

The National Chlamydia Coalition (NCC) convened in 2008 to address the continued high burden of chlamydia infection, especially among women age 25 and under. For more information, see www.prevent.org/NCC.

Alana Ward
Program Associate
Partnership for Prevention

Baltimore’s holistic approach to unhealthy housing was named the “Best Prevention Idea of the Week,” while the increase in casual sex was named the “Worst Prevention Idea of the Week."

The “Best/Worst” awards are announced each week in “Prevention Matters,” the blog of Partnership for Prevention. Nominees are submitted by Partnership staff as well as the general public, and are voted on by the staff. Partnership for Prevention is a nonpartisan organization of business, nonprofit and government leaders who are working to make evidence-based disease prevention and health promotion a national priority. More information is available at http://www.prevent.org/.

BEST

Baltimore takes a holistic approach to unhealthy housing

Baltimore is the site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's first Healthy Homes program, an attempt to coordinate efforts on lead abatement, asthma and injury prevention, indoor air pollution and fire safety. "It's not unusual for a community health worker to take care of lead only to have a child die in a fire, or fall out the window," said Mary Jean Brown, chief of the Lead Poisoning Prevention branch at CDC. "The Healthy Homes approach recognizes all these things that can happen in homes. So you take your lead prevention army and equip them with tools so that they can address more than one problem at once."

WORST

Casual Sex Increasing in U.S.

People in non-romantic sexual relationships today are likely to have multiple partners, researchers have found, and that behavior could promote the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. "The United States has seen a major shift toward non-romantic sexual partnerships -- people becoming sexually involved when they are just casually dating or not dating at all," study author Anthony Paik, a sociologist at the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said in a university news release. "People can make their own choices, but we hope this information will be useful as they weigh the risks and rewards of non-romantic sexual relationships," Paik said. "We encourage people to be aware of the potential for sexual concurrency and take appropriate precautions to avoid sexually transmitted infections."