By Brady Bateman

Safe sex campaign targets Saskatchewan cities

Nov 5, 2018 | 1:00 PM

A campaign to address sexual health in Saskatchewan is using humour and wit to draw attention to an important issue.

Now in its third year, Wrap It Up!, which is run by Saskatoon’s sexual health centre, is hoping to draw attention to the cause by releasing four new condoms all named after locations in the province.

Current condom slogans include “Regina, the city that rhymes with fun” and “Climax, please come again”.

Executive director for Saskatoon Sexual Health, Heather Hale, said four new cities throughout the province will be featured on upcoming condoms set to be released in January.

“It’s an evidence-informed social marketing campaign that really seeks to increase condom usage and accessibility,” said Hale. “The goal of the campaign was to respond to the high rates of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI) in Saskatoon and the surrounding area.”

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Saskatchewan currently leads the nation in both HIV rates, which are almost three times the national average, and unplanned pregnancy rates among adolescent girls, both which Hale believes the campaign can address.

“This isn’t a new idea, the evidence-based social marketing campaign is something that has been happening around the world in different places,” said Hale. “We were looking at the landscape to see what was out there that was working and now we’re building on successes that had been demonstrated before.”

Hale said while she’s not at liberty to disclose the winning cities, there were several entries referencing Prince Albert that were definite contenders.

“Our first year we distributed 114,000 condoms, last year we distributed over 131,000 and this year we’re hoping for over 200,000. We’re hoping that it continues to gain momentum,” said Hale. “With that growth will come new town names and new funny sayings.”

The condoms are free to the public and are currently available at more than 30 locations, many in the Saskatoon area. But according to Hale, the number of locations may expand significantly if demand continues to grow.

The campaign website is designed to showcase information on STIs, birth control, HIV, proper condom use demonstrations and locations of testing facilities as well as fun facts about condoms. The campaign involves the Saskatoon Health Region, the Saskatchewan Prevention Institute, Territorial, OUTSaskatoon and AIDS Saskatoon.

brady.bateman@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow