Chapter Highlights for My Life, My Body: Sex Ed Made Easy - HIV & STIs

Welcome to the next blog in the series - Chapter Highlights for My Life, My Body: Sex Ed Made Easy.

This blog is about chapter ten - HIV and STIs.

This chapter is all about breaking down the often complicated information about HIV and STIs into easy to understand pieces of information.

We start with learning that HIV and STIs are an illness that can occur if you have unprotected sex. Sex is again explained to include both vaginal and anal intercourse, and oral sex.

We learn the only way to protect ourselves from HIV and STIs is using condoms, both male and female.

We learn that we all should have an STI check every 12 months, or 3 months where we have casual sex partners.

It is important that the information is given in a factual way, but also easy to understand. Because of the stigma surrounding HIV and STIs, often people think they are a result of being “dirty”.

HIV and STIs are not a result of being “dirty” or “damaged”, they are just a part of being human. We are vulnerable to illnesses, and it is just that these happen to be shared while engaging in sexual behaviours which are also often seen as “dirty”.

So while we are learning that there is no negative consequence if we have HIV and STIs, we also learn how to detect them aside from having regular sexual health checks.

HIV is broken down to show that it is an uncurable illness, but also can be managed to the point where you still have a fulfilling life. There have been so many medical improvements in the management of HIV that with medications, HIV can be suppressed to not impact the body, or be transmissible.

We learn that if HIV is unknown or untreated that it can be shared through blood and bodily fluids from the penis, anus and vagina. We also learn that it cannot be shared through kissing, touching, sweat, toilet seats, food etc.

We then move onto other STIs. We learn the difference between bacterial and viral STIs and what they all are.

We learn about symptoms of each type, what can be used to cure bacterial STIs and that a doctor can help to manage viral STIs.

Again, the information is broken down to be easy to understand, without judgement and directing the person reading the information to their doctor if they have any concerns about their body.

My life, My Body: Sex Ed Made Easy is available now to download onto a phone, iPad or tablet device.

Not only does it make comprehensive sexual health education easy, it also supports the reader to have privacy while learning.