Abstract:
Objectives:
To
analyze t
he quantity and the content of sexual health related articles and
advertisements published in Sri Lankan newspapers.
Methods:
This was a descriptive cross sectional study and the sample consisted of Sinhalese
and English weekly newspapers and a random sam
ple of daily newspapers published in July
2015, that were available at the Public library
-
Colombo, which were scrutinized to identify
sexual health related articles and advertisements. Data was collected using pre
-
tested
checklists, independently by two r
esearches. Data was analyzed using SPSS.
Results:
Among a total of 236 newspaper issues, 210 articles and advertisements were on
sexual health. Majority (60%, n=125) were advertisements which appeared more on weekly
Sinhala newspapers. Majority (71%, n=89
) of advertisements were for sexual health services
and from them 61% (n=54) were for sexual dysfunctions and 39% (n=35) on STI treatments.
Advertisements on services for sexual health significantly appeared more in Sinhalese
newspapers. (p=0.035) Almost 9
0% (n=78) of service advertisements did not indicate a
service provider. None were on condoms. Nearly 50% (n=42) of 85 detailed articles were
related to risk populations, out of that, 69% (n=29) mentioned stigma/discrimination. Only
1/3 (n=28) of articles
directly mentioned STI, HIV or both. 2 articles mentioned condoms as
a preventive method and another 4 had details on linked to care.
Conclusions
: There were many advertisements related to sexual health and most of them
were advertising treatment services
for sexual dysfunctions. Significant percentage of
advertisements lacked details of the service provider. Very few articles addressed STD/HIV
in
-
depth and they also markedly lacked information on condoms, link to care services
including NSACP. The bulk of
the analyzed articles were on risk populations with
mentioni
ng of stigma/ discrimination