The prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases is particularly high among teenagers and young adults in Antigua and Barbuda, according to Clinical Social Worker Sequoyah Survia at the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre.
During a panel discussion hosted by ABS Television to address the country’s crime situation, Survia highlighted the numerous social issues she encounters when interacting with young individuals at the hospital, with a notable concern being the high incidence of STDs.
Survia emphasized the urgent need for comprehensive sex education to be integrated into both primary and secondary school curriculums, citing the rising rates of STD infections among young people.
She expressed concern that many individuals are unaware of their infection status. Her observations include encounters with diseases such as herpes, syphilis, and pelvic inflammatory disease, with the latter being a consequence of untreated STDs.
She also pointed out the prevalence of chlamydia, highlighting the challenge of identifying this infection due to the cost of specialized blood tests.
The clinical social worker underscored that teenagers as young as 13, up to young adults in their 20s, are affected by these diseases.
She noted that a significant portion of infections occur as a result of encounters with older individuals, with approximately 60% of infections attributed to older men and 40% to peers.
Survia stressed that while young women seek medical attention promptly, the rate of STD cases among young men is also substantial, although many choose not to report their infections.
In response to these concerning trends, Survia called for a nationwide education campaign targeting young individuals, utilizing both traditional and new media, to effectively address the issue and promote awareness and prevention.
Thirteen years old are having sexual intercourse, this has to be a joke.
The real question is why older men are having relations with children. That’s a crime, and they aren’t being apprehended. They deserve hard time.
you better believe it its no joke real life
Wow these kids need to protect themselves and keep to how the family wants to bring them up because sometimes we want to go our way and our families just want better for us
Mother’s needs to be more protective with their children especially girls
exactly i find mothers in this country just a little to loose with they kids
Wow 13 year old what is this world turning to? And why aren’t these men isn’t behind bars?the law enforcement need to go deeper into this not just robbery is crime this right there is bigger than robbery
Why aren’t these men in jail?
There isn’t a law for this in antigua ?
The police need to do their jobs because this really getting out of hand
Really isn’t something good for antigua
Gaston not just the guys who rob and injured people are criminals this right there needs to end start give these men jail time fa wa dem a do
That’s something that should never even be an issue.. this is such a disgusting thing.. older men and teenagers should never even be doing such a thing. Those disgusting adults should know better than to get involved with a CHILD, ruining their life and innocence. I am so enraged and disgusted by this. Not only that but the children’s family and schools needs to educate their child or children on such things but even so, the older men who are involved in the situation should be punished and judged by the law.
These men should be getting serious jail time for these kinds of acts on a serious note and it’s being ignored by the law
This needs to be addressed asap set some examples make it serious put men behind bars for these kinds of acts even women and start charging the people who let those kids inside fetes
I’m not saying that adults should have sex with children, as a parent I find the act despicable and these pedophiles should be arrested. I will say however that we should look at it from a wider perspective, is it rape or “consensual”. They are children yes but many young boys and girls are actively looking for older people and in my school days we called the “force ripe”. Just like we want to punish and find these adults we also have to find and correct these children that are willingly giving away their bodies and even pursuing grown men and women for sexual intercourse. If we only ever punish one side instead of getting to the root issue on both sides then this will continue to happen. We need to look out for our children and raise them the right way as opposed to just punishing adults because the children won’t learn and they will continue to display this self destructive behavior. A lot of the times these young ladies that look older than they are don’t even tell these men their actual ages(I’m not victim blaming but objectively I’m sure we have all seen or heard of an instance). We have to better police both sides and teach our kids the right from wrong, to wait for their time to be adults and to also report possible pedophiles to a trusted adult. Can’t punish one and not guide the other.
These elder grown men are so disgusting they go after little girls with the intention to get sex from them
And some older women going after our boys and girls too. Their are a lot of sick adults doing this.
They need to find them and put them i jail they curupt the young girls
this is pure craziness , mothers please pay close attention to your daughters also these grown men need to be jailed no doubt about this
they need to have more open conversations at home , also mental health is important when grown men tend to see advantage they take it offering money, help everything
I see people talking about jailing the men, let’s talk about the parents …13 year old?
Arrest the parents first !
Then arrest the men!!
Everyone is saying jail the men. Are you people really listening to yourselves. Next the police need to start locking them up. Well the police can only do as much as dealing with the report causing an arrest then take them to court then on the other hand they are granted bail and out on the streets again to another victim. Some of these parents will rant and wave lock them up and when the police does that they are the same ones that accept petty cash to drop the matters then who get the blame police. It takes the entire country to raise a child so if a home drop short society should step in. Stop pointing fingers and casting blame on others. Our teenagers go off of what they see. Straighten your homes before casting blame.