FirstMed Consulting Blog

The Government recently unveiled a new £4 million pound campaign to raise awareness of sexually transmitted infections. The campaign designed to target young people, displays attractive, seemingly healthy people sporting designer underwear, across which is scrawled the names of various STI’s such as Chlamydia, Gnorrhoea, Genital Herpes, Syphilis and HIV. The idea behind it being that it’s not easy to tell who’s got a Sexually Transmitted Infection, therefore condoms should always be part of your essential going out kit. Slogans such as ‘Hot pants but beware of what lurks beneath them.’ may prove to be an effective deterrent to risky sexual behavior. I wonder how effective a similar campaign to raise awareness of erectile dysfunction would be.

A billboard with a muscular young man with ‘I’VE GOT ED’ written on his shorts may be just the ticket to get the message out that erectile dysfunction can happen at any age. At a time when obesity rates are soaring, the psychological pressure young people are under is immense and drug and alcohol abuse is rampant, ED may be more prevalent in the UK than anyone realizes. Yet no one wants to acknowledge it . Noone wants media exposure to it. And who feels comfortable with children in the room when a Viagra ad comes on? But given the utter despair that men of any age feel following a bout of ED, it is very important that the issue be addressed and the message delivered, that is common and there is help available.