From Australian history books, the flag. The anthem and for many years the Australian democracy. The history of dispossession and colonization lies at the heart of disparity between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Australians today.
And including this recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in events like this one.
Is one small step to its ending the exclusion that has been so damaging. And thus, I respectfully acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which I live and work, the Buneron, Bonu and the Wurante were warring people of the colon nation.
And I pay my deepest respect to the elders past and present. I also acknowledge the traditional custodians of the various lands and diverse cultures which you are all joining in from today.
The renti has never been seated. And this was an always will be Aboriginal land.
My name is Rui. My pronouns are she and her and it’s simply an honor and privilege to be in this room today.
I’m the founder of Allied Collective. Australia’s 1st inclusive facilitation and well-being agency.
And I firmly believe that wellbeing is not a monolith and doesn’t exist. In silos.
We, wellbeing is dependent and intersectional. We can’t think of wellbeing in a way that is.
Threes us as individuals because our well being is a part of us being in a collective being in community.
And this is why we’re here. We’re going to talk about well-being. We’re going to talk about intersectionality within well-being.
And the biggest Why that brings me here is that we’re here for a collective vision and to make our communities better at having these conversations.
So I warmly welcome you all to this discussion about sexual health. About STI prevention and testing in multicultural communities.
And we’re so thrilled again to have you join us for this. And this webinar is supporting the Australian governments before play SDI campaign.
And the goal of this campaign and the conversation today is about education, educating young people about .Is about testing and safe sex practices.
And boy, do we have a lineup for you. We have a fantastic lineup of speakers whose faces you’re seeing right now who are a treasure trove of knowledge, stories and insights on this important topic.
And I’m so, so thrilled to have you listen to them speak because trust me, they’re amazing.
So hold on to your child or whatever beverage you have because it’s gonna be amazing. And we’re going to talk about the conversation about eliminating the stigma or on sexual health in our communities.
So this is how it’s gonna run. I’m going to ask a few questions to our panelists after they introduce themselves.
And in the meantime, please use the Q&A function to ask. Any questions you may have and if you want to direct it to any particular panelists, please put their name in the question as well.
And while we go while the panelists are sharing their insights, we’ll be sharing plenty of resources with you via links in the chat.
And we’ll also have this recording and the links in a separate email sent to you after the event.
So we’ll dedicate the last 5 to 10 min for a Q&A round. And I’ll now hand over to the fantastic panelists to introduce themselves.
And tell us why this topic is so important to them. I’ll start with Alex.
Hi. My name is Alex James. I work with Scarlet Alliance who are Australia’s peak sex worker advocacy body.
My role there is the policy coordinator for the Red Book Online. So which is our sexual health resources for sex workers bisex workers and I’m just the resident sexual health nerd.
Thank you.
Oh, and it’s important to me because as sex work is, our sexual health is our job and it’s our job to be experts in sexual health.
And I’m really passionate about how through peer education and community education like we’re doing today. 6 workers in Australia maintain.
Some of the lowest SDI rates in the world. And yet it’s just proof of concept for this kind of thing.
Thank you. So much Alex. I’ll pass it to Danny.
Hi everyone, my name is Danny Nour. I’m an Egyptian Australian writer and journalist.
My writing has featured in the New York Times and SBS voices and on other publications too.
My work covers the intersection of queer and migrant experiences I live somewhere in between those 2 worlds as I’m sure so many of you do as well.
And I’m so happy to be here today. I hope that by sharing my experience on honestly, I can encourage others and maybe people in this chat to get tested and to speak up about their own health needs.
Thank you, Danny. And I’ll pass it to Jan Cow, all the way from New York.
00:06:15.000 –> 00:06:29.000
Hi everybody. Yes, that’s, really excited to be here. I am. Liked any part of the, community and so I am an advocate for the algebra community as well as local community and my stress community and the disability community as well.
So I’m really excited to be here. I am all about trying to make sure that this conversation is as normal as possible because that’s to be honest if, you know, if you can talk about a head call, you can talk about.
So, let’s make that normal and normalize having this conversation. It does help that my mom was a sexual health doctor growing up.
So it’s totally number of my whole family talking about this stuff. So let’s bring my family to your family and talk about like we, like we all like we all care.
So really that Okay.
Brilliant. Thank you so much for joining us and.
Thank you. My name is John Tim. I used to hear pronouns. I wrote a repeat fellow at Ustall University in Sweden.
But before pursuing further education I worked in community organizing and campaigning on gender equity and global health advocacy.
Currently a member of Australian women help the lion. And for me, sexual health and I guess more broadly, sexual overproductive health rights is about gender equity issue.
Unlike John Carlos, similar to Jim Cell’s mom, and my mom’s also a nurse, but I actually never learned anything from my mom about sexual health or reproductive health.
So I’m super excited to learn as well. With you guys, on this, yeah, on this, Yeah.
Thank you. Joan and Dr. Vincent.
Thanks, Reed. I’m Vincent Kornelis. I’m a medical specialist in sexual health medicine.
And I also have completed a PhD in sexual health epidemiology and STI prevention.
So I have a keen interest in ensuring that our communities Stay safe and healthy. And that people are empowered to live their best sex life, in the safest way possible.
My other sector contributions over the years have included, that I’m a co-author of the Australian SCI management guidelines, the Australian HFV management guidelines and the Australian prep guidelines.
So I’m also a sexual health super nerd. And here to provide answer all your nitty-gritty questions about sexual health.
I’m sure there’ll be many. And on that note, my 1st question is to you, Dr. Vincent.
So, starting our discussion and kicking off from a medical view, how would you define good sexual health?
Thanks, Rick. I mean, my, full back on the definition of sexual always comes back to the World Health Organization who have thought about this long and hard and they define sexual health as, and this is a bit wordy but it’s a stage of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being.
In relation to sexuality and they emphasize that it’s not merely the absence of disease nor dysfunction or infirmity.
But that sexual health requires a positive and respectful approach to both sexuality and sexual relationships. So as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences free from coercion, free from discrimination and free from violence and in order for sexual health to be attained and maintained the rights or the sexual rights of all persons must be respected.
Protected and fulfilled. And I think that is potentially the broadest definition of sexual health you can get, but I think it really touches on all the important aspects of sexual health.
Yeah, that’s such an insightful definition and the power of language as well and to also acknowledge that it’s not just physical, it’s so much beyond that and including so many other dimensions.
Thank you so much for that. And Alex. Next question is for you. Why would you say it’s important for us all to focus on things like sexual health and talk about it?
So it’s really important for us to talk about sexual health. Because kind of, like was mentioned before, it’s a disproportionately stigmatized area of health.
Where shame and Message information get in the way of what should be very straightforward health outcomes and health education.
We’re sort of seeing Wait a definitively seeing, increased rates of things like syphilis, gonorrhoea and chlamydia, especially in younger people.
And if we can help people to feel empowered to overcome the shame and her fear and discomfort around those things.
We can help keep them and their partners safe.
Yeah, absolutely. And I think you hit it on the nail over there when you said, you know, shame and guilt overshadows so much of these conversations and we know that one of the biggest issues when we talk about things like SDI transmission rates if the misinformation and often misconceptions on this topic.
So what we’re going to do now is buff a few myths on this. So over to you, Giancarlo, what would you say is a common misconceptions about STIs that you have come across?
You’re.
And I worries very, yeah, I don’t realize that. Look, I think it’s 1st just wanna say it’s really common to have one, like 1, 6, one in 6 of us have had one.
And so it’s absolutely completely normal. I just want to say that up, upfront.
And, and sometimes because it’s so normal that, you know, you might not expect to see.
You might not expect to say symptoms. So we might have experienced in terms in the way that, that you might have expected.
To have had them in the past, some special experience with other conditions. And I think that’s a really clear.
Completely misconception that we gotta really tackle our heads on like in a for instance, Nikols.
You know, Nice to see you. I think about 89% of cases of Korea won’t have any visual symptoms.
And so I’d like to be underscores like the real informers trying to just be be comfortable being normal.
You know, normalizing the conversation. And you know and you’re comfortable using protection because that this is clearly normal.
And it’s and and the more you care about it, it’s totally normal and it’s and and the more you care about it and the more you you the way you test any more use protection than the value before.
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for sharing that. And yeah, just kind of normalizing it and seeing it as it is rather than yeah covering it in shame or guilt like we mentioned earlier and Daniel do you have anything to add to that and also would you recommend staying away from Koala bears?
Shot in there koala bears are, you know, famously infectious and I think they’re all ridden with, venereal disease.
So I think twice. Something I often, here and I think is a common misconception.
Is that you only catch an STI through penetrative sex and actually that’s you know that’s not the case many infections like herpes, genital warts and syphilis can be spread through oral sex, intimate skin to skin contact.
And kissing. Isn’t necessarily something that should I suppose, freeze us up in fear, but it is information that we should be aware of and equipped with.
Yeah, absolutely. So are we saying that we need to be mindful when sharing a straw with a friend?
Well, I can say you won’t get Clementia or HIV from sharing a straw, but you maybe want to check for Source 1st because it could be a cold salt, which is actually a form of.
That’s great to know and learning such new things and new information in this call today. And, J, are there any other myths that you can think of that need to be busted.
Yeah, I think the 2 that come to my mind have already been covered by, John, and Daniel.
But the another one that I also used to commonly believe, is that if you get an STI once, you won’t get the same one again.
Unfortunately, it is not true. These infections are bacterial. Which means you can catch them again, even if you’ve been treated before.
So again, like, Jean, as, said, testing is the best way to go about it.
That’s so good to know. And it sounds like from all things considered, that SDI testing is one of the best protections against spreading of FDIs and preventing serious long-term health complications.
So Dr. Vincent, over to you. Do you want to speak a little bit on SDI testing?
Yeah, definitely. I mean, I tend to, sort of. Encapsulate SCI prevention and sexual health well being as as a toolbox.
So definitely testing I think is an important part of that toolbox and if you think you may have been exposed to an SDI, as mentioned, you can’t rely on whether or not you’ve got any symptoms of that SDI, as mentioned, you can’t rely on whether or not you’ve got any symptoms of that SDI.
So then it’s certainly a good idea to go and get tested. And I always recommend that people, you know, try to have a relationship with the doctor they trust so that they have somewhere to go when they do need to get an SDI test.
I think the other parts of the toolbox are also important. So we mustn’t forget about condoms, you know, they condoms have never been fashionable.
You know, people often don’t like using condoms, but they are very effective. At protecting you against, STIs are also very effective at protecting against HIV.
And I think HIV is, you know, seems to also have lost a bit of interest in the broader media space, but unfortunately over the last year, HIV rates in Australia have increased and they’ve particularly increased amongst men who were born overseas.
So particularly young men who have sex with men from, as I said, were born overseas, I’ve seen significant rises in HIV diagnosis.
So in order to kind of put all this together as I said, you know, use condoms when you can.
For penetrative 6. So by that we mean, you know, penis in vagina or penis in A is 6.
You know, some people recommend using condoms for oral sex and I know in the sex industry that has been practiced by some people and you know obviously that I’m not the one to speak about what happens in the sex industry but Just flag.
So condoms and then if, you think you’ve been exposed, get an SCI test, but the other things to really be aware of the other HIV prevention strategies that are available to everyone in Australia.
And that’s PIP. So post exposure prophylaxis. So say you’ve had sex with someone and you’re worried that you might have been exposed to HIV then you can go and go to the nearest sexual health center, bring them up and say, look, I think I’ve been exposed to HIV.
I think I need PEP and then you will be prioritized for care and you will be seen on the same day.
Or if it’s the weekend you can attend your local emergency department and that’s so pet if it’s started particularly if it started within 24 h significantly reduces your risk of HIV from a recent exposure.
And so again, we particularly talking about men who have sex with men, given that that’s where we’re seeing most of the HIV transmission in Australia.
And then Prep is really exciting I think. Prep is the same medication as PEP, but it’s using it every day on an ongoing basis.
So if you know that, you know, you You like to have sex and you have new sexual partners on a you know either on a regular basis or from time to time and you just wanna make sure that your H every risk is taken care of.
Prep is extremely effective at preventing HIV, as in it’s more than 99% effective at preventing HIV.
It can be taken in different ways. It can be taken every day for someone who sort of regularly has sexual contact in a way that might expose them to HIV or it can be taken on demand or event based if for example you know, most of the time you have sex with your regular partner, you don’t really think that’s a HIV risk.
And then once in a while you like to have in a bit of an adventure and have sex with someone else and you just need to cover that particular sex event.
Then you can take it on demand but what I would say is if you think you might at times be at risk of hijab, go and talk to your local friendly GP or sexual health service and have a chat about pept and prep and just make sure that you know you’ve got all the all the tools in your toolbox to stay healthy.
Thank you and thanks for so clearly distinguishing the difference between both as well. I think that’s such helpful knowledge and context to have.
So if someone does decide like to get tested and maybe Joe and you can jump in here. How could they find out where to go?
Oh, great question. On health direct website, you can look up sexual health clinics and then you type in your postcode next to the, if this function, super straightforward and you can just find one listed straightaway.
I think maybe some of can drop the link in the checkbox.
Yeah, and like we mentioned, we’ll have these resources and links coming to you. And feel free to pop in your questions in the chat as well.
Now, we know we’re gonna talk about SDIs and multicultural communities. We’re talking about intersectionality and the intersection of well-being that exists.
We know that a significant barrier to sexual health awareness in multicultural communities is their hesitancy and a taboo around having open conversations in public.
And, and I’m wondering, Daniel, how would you encourage others in our community to break the stigma around sexual health and discuss it more openly and boldly.
Yeah, fantastic question. As a gay man, the topic of sex in general is shrouded with stigma, especially when talking to health care professionals.
Who have a more conservative background? And as it happens, that’s a lot of doctors. That’s certainly a lot of suburban doctors.
3 years ago, for example, I asked a neighborhood GP a pretty standard question about PREP, which is the as Dr.
Vincent mentioned the antiviral HIV prevention drug taken by men who have sex with Ben.
He’s eyes widened in fear and he started muttering. It was a very awkward encounter for me.
He was visibly stressed out and he said you know but this one is only for gay men.
So he had never seen a gay man before as though I was like a 2 can. Or you know an emu in his office completely unexpected.
And then we have a shock of realization he hastily prescribed me a course of the medication and then he saw me out of his office.
He wanted to end that. Encounter. As quickly as possible. It was only later when I spoke to my own friends, my queer friends that I understood that this doctor had completely neglected his medical duty to test me for prep first.st
I had never been on the medication previously. And so they recommended a gay friendly GP. And it’s opened.
My I suppose health prospects up for me in an entirely new way because my current doctor gives me matter of factored bias, honest mental health support and regular, simple STI checks from his clinics.
They aren’t painful, they’re very straightforward. And we just schedule them in and it just becomes part of my routine really.
So he’s become my hero of healthcare. I would strongly recommend finding someone like that. And there are resources you can use.
To access these gay friendly GPS and I think they’ll be shared in this chat shortly. But also I wanted to mention another resource.
You know, a lot of people get their information online and I think it is great to be able to lean in on the language rather on the in language.
Resources that the Department of Health has produced. For accurate, culturally relevant and up-to-date information on sexual health.
Again, that’s in language in the respective languages, non English speaking people require. And I think that, link will be dropped into the chat.
Sure will and thank you for highlighting that because it just shows when we’re talking about, you know, I talk about cultural awareness and cultural intelligence, it’s so important to have culturally aware medical practitioners who are, you know, I guess educated on the nuances and the needs for different communities.
And it’s so important to have that safe. Considered care for everyone so thank you for mentioning that and for telling your story as well.
Alex, I want to ask you, so there’s something called the Scallop Alliance and it maintains something called the Red Book Online, which includes in language resources like Danny mentioned on sexual health for sex workers.
So can you please share with us more about what it is and we can share the link. I think we’ve already shared the link for the same in the chat.
Hey, sure. My favorite topic. So like I said, solid alliance is the peak sex worker advocacy body in Australia.
And the red book online started, the red book started in the early 2 thousands late ninetys as a literal red book and now we have an online version that we’re constantly updating.
But even that then in language with this photos, the red book included resources in multiple languages and we continue that commitment.
To making that health information as accessible as possible. What makes the red book special? All the information is tailored to the specific needs.
And the diverse nature of sex workers. So it’s not gendered, it covers some pretty specific, transmission risks and harm reduction strategies and how it can affect your work and legislation but that information is useful to people who aren’t just sex workers so if you are in addition to the amazing government health department resources, anyone can jump on and learn from, like I said, the sexual health experts.
That are 6 seconds.
That’s amazing. And such an amazing treasure trove of resources to have at hand as well. So thank you.
And Giancallo, over to you. Would love to hear more about your experience talking about STIs within multicultural communities.
Yeah, look, look, I can, really speak from the, I guess, the, from what’s comfortable to, background.
And I think, it’s kind of in touch. And already, that the signal is really, really strong.
Any kind of shit. I can, point to that. He’s saying, sorry. But I think the issue, there is, all things that I become that has always been the importance of key networks and having conversations within peers, networks so that have the conversation.
But then another really clear barrier to, to multicultural communities is really the language barriers itself.
Like, like I speak about like, I guess I take it for granted that English has words described.
Experience and sexuality experiences of acquaintance. You know, like it’s completely within that, but I can, within our language, together talk about this experience, but it’s not, it’s not like we’ve just gotta talk about these experiences, but it’s not, it’s not a foregone thing for other like which it’s like, it’s, it’s.
it’s, just imagine, having a word for different, sexualities, for example, and, gender expressions.
And so, and so being able to being able to, being able to recognize that, particularly in the context of geography is really important.
So you might have a word for something. For, within, within a linguistic group that is obviously the same in America.
Even though you speak the same language. And so, and so, and so, there’s some really great resources out there that exist.
So I know for instance, the lexicon, so, to the QI experiences.
So, people from different multicultural, backgrounds can talk about the experiences and people from those, linguistic groups can then, you know, have a common language to talk about the same things because quite often, especially if you’re nearly arrived in Australia, it’s the 1st time we’re talking about these things.
And because of that, that I mentioned. And I wanted to really this echo Dennis point around the primary GP.
You know, Dr. Mvin said I was like part of the talk kit. I, my doctor and I are like You know, like, like we really wanna be, we’d wanna be able to make sure that we have a really great relationship with our primary healthcare provider.
And so there is, quite a few resources you can get. So icon has, you know, a list of GPS, different, to, I mean, if you’re like if you can access and, You can also access prep on, prep access now, doctors, prescribing doctors as well through a website, known as, PREPECTS.
Now, so pay. And you can then so these are 2 resources online that you can and they can you can really go to to be able to get safe you know really easy information on you.
And yeah.
Thank you. And that just goes to show the power of inclusive language, right? Being able to give context and language to all of our experiences and all of the dimensions.
And I just saw everyone smiling when you said you were in your GPIO besties, like, cause we deserve to have, you know, culturally appropriate care where we do feel safe, especially when it comes to having, you know, sensitive conversations.
So From there, we’re going to move to questions and the 1st one we have is for Jawoon.
So the question is, how can I talk to a new sexual partner about getting tested?
Yeah, that’s a really good question and it’s can be open and nerve breaking I think to talk about getting tested for SDIs in general.
You know, especially with a new partner. But I always think you’re at it like buying a house 2 people buying a house.
You’re gonna think about and you’re gonna talk about what house you want why you want it for the both parties in both and what are your non-negotiables, right?
Like I want a big window with beautiful kitchen. For me, I think definitely talking about, you know, getting tested is one knowing the facts, you know, how it spread, how it’s prevented, like, you know, I want a house in this postcode, and it costs X amount of money kind of thing.
So I’m sure and I heard that this webinar is pushing you in that way to know more about the fact.
But it’s also about framing in a way that’s, you know, for both people, right?
About having practicing safe sticks for both people in the relationships and then it is in our shared interest to do that.
And then the last thing and I think it’s most important thing is know your own boundaries. You don’t have to compromise.
When it comes to your body and your health, so know what it is important to you and, and your health.
So know what it is important to you and communicate that to the other person especially if it’s a new partner that you’re just you know getting intimate with and just getting to know.
Yeah, and that’s such a good point to be able to courageously not just have the conversation, but to courageously draw the boundaries for ourselves and our own health as well.
That’s amazing. Dr. Vincent, there’s a question for you. The prep won’t prevent other SDIs, will it?
That’s correct. Prep won’t. I mean, as I said, prep is very, very, very effective at preventing HIV, but it only protects So it does, there’s a couple of points to that.
I mean, again, in high lights that condoms can be very useful when, trying to protect against SDIs.
The other important part is that when you see a GP or other doctor on a regular basis for your credit is recommended that you have an appointment every 3 months and that’s so you can get you prep prescription but it’s also so that you have a HIV test.
And a sexual health screen. And then that way if you do get an SCI it’s picked up early and that means 2 things firstly it means that you’re not likely to have any problems from that STI because it’s picked up and diagnosed and treated before it causes any problems.
But it also means that it reduces the risk of transmitting that SDI to any of your sexual partners.
And of course, Whenever someone’s diagnosed with an SCI, we encourage, some partner notification so that your sexual partners know that they’ve been that you know with and they can be done anonymously I should say so it doesn’t have to be sort of, divulging your name.
And we can talk about that if, if we’ve got time, but basically it means making sure that your sexual partners are notified that they’ve been in contact with an SCI so that they can also get tested and get treated.
To try and stop the spread of SDIs in your sexual network and your local community.
Good to know. Thank you. And this question is open to any panelist. How can we talk about this topic with our parents?
Well, I might jump in. You know, my parents, very conservative and so for me, it’s not culturally safe.
To talk about this topic with my parents. Should they pry, which is something that, has happened and I’m sure, you know, may well happen again.
Then I think a tactic of
Clear communication within boundaries is the way forward. So for example, if they’re asking me about my partner or if they If they suggest, for example, to be safe, then I think those are things that I can engage with, but I’m not going to divulge.
Personal information because that would encourage further questions and expose me to risk. My mental health would suffer.
And also I think it would create unnecessary scrutiny. About my personal life. Now that that may not be the experience of the person questioning, they may have a more, I guess, a safer environment in which to open up.
But they need to be very careful about judging that before jumping into these conversations. I guess you should always ask the question, what is the purpose of this conversation?
How will I stand to benefit? And how will they benefit if at all. And if you can’t really clearly answer that question for yourself, I would probably think twice.
I would also always encourage people to seek the advice of trained professionals and stay in formed as a way of taking care of your own health needs.
And that’s something that parents and even close friends won’t be able to do for you. So I suppose it’s a little bit case by case.
Yeah, no, and what I’m hearing is really going into the why of the conversation. It could be that they’re seeking education or clarity on certain things.
So it’s really getting approaching from that place with curiosity. So yeah, that’s a great advice.
Thank you. And another question open to any panelist. Ideas on how to promote and encourage multicultural communities to attend our sexual health clinic.
I’m happy to take that one. I’ve mentioned the really really big importance of networks.
And so I think going through community, having it known by the, is probably the best approach I’ve come across when it comes to this space.
And I can recognize that’s a really hard place start. How do you find community is the question you normally ask yourself then, next, and that’s, I recognize that’s really difficult, but I think that’s where your psychology relationships and your safer engagement work is going to be really crucial to you.
So I’m knowing how that knowing how to identify who your stakeholders and and then asking curious questions to try and get done sent to the actual leaders are is really key, because it’s sometimes not obvious on the, on the, on the face of it all.
Design that though, there is, there is some resources that exist as well in terms of trying to find some.
Let’s call the, of different, organize, multicultural organizations. They’re always a good place to start as well.
And so again, you’re already typically tapping into an established pee network and by, you’re already typically tapping into an established key network by doing that.
But it gets more complicated, tapping into an established pee network, and by doing that, but it gets more complicated once you start to, by doing that, but it gets more complicated once you start to, but it gets more complicated once you start to, and once you start to, the intersections.
And so, and so, that’s where my original advice, and, to sections. And so, and so, that’s where my original advice, around trying to, really’s where my original advice, and I’m trying to, really know, you stakeholders in that the well is really crucial.
The other thing is I would say privacy as well. If you got a click that exists, It’s gonna be really important that we try and provide a place where they can do it just quickly.
And being able to do so without having to. That happened to, worry too much about, I guess, intake.
And so, that is a really, point thing from my experiences. In and so they’re probably the 2 things I would suggest.
Yeah, those are some great points and what I’m hearing in that is to really make it safe and inclusive, inclusive point, with the, you know, principle of nothing for you without you really meeting them where they are, where they in their learning journey as well and to approach with you know that consideration and care piece and obviously using privacy, discretion and respect.
So thank you for that. And we have another question for Dr. Vincent. As pep and prep are the same drug, what can be the downfall of people’s self-prescribing if they think they may have been post.
It’s a great question. And they Pep and Prep can be the same drug and I say can because there are several different PET regiments as in the post exposure pro flex as Regimen.
And we don’t need to go into the sort of nitty gritty details, but When it comes down to the important bit is that it’s important that you have a HIV test.
So if you’re about to start the course of So post exposure, so after you’ve had sex with someone.
The protocol, stipulates that at that point someone has a HIV test to make sure they don’t already have HIV before starting PEP.
So that’s the, I guess the risk. That’s not to say that, you know, if you’re out in the desert somewhere and you have, and but you’ve managed to find someone to have sex with and you’ve got a Yeah, and that’s the.
Couldn’t start the start the preface pet but I would encourage people to then at that point seek advice from a sexual health clinic.
So call your nearest sexual health clinic and say, Hey, this is a scenario. This is what’s happened.
I’ve got the prep pills on me can I start what do I do and just have that conversation so that all the public sexual health clinics have nurses available to talk to over the phone.
Or you can have a tele health conversation with a doctor and, as Danny said, it’s really important to get proper professional advice when you’re looking at things like this.
Yeah, and a slightly related question to that is, is STI testing safe for me if I’m not out in my community?
How do how does one navigate that conversation?
Yeah, and it can be really tricky, particularly in smaller communities. It can be really difficult to find a service.
Whether that be a GP or sexual service that you feel comfortable with because you know you’ll run into some people at the front desk for example or you’re worried that you might know the doctors or the nurses certainly in our clinic.
So I’m in on the north coast of New South Wales and we see people who drive. Many hundreds of kilometers to come and see us.
And that you know is a real issue and people do that because they want to have privacy and they don’t want to seek their sexual health care in their local community.
I should point out that increasingly we have early health services available for people, and certainly our clinic runs tele health service.
I don’t know many of the other public sex health clinics do as well for people who can’t access services locally.
Yeah. And then we can arrange for testing. Via pathology provider, you know, in a nearby town or.
So there are always options. So don’t, don’t let concerns around privacy stop you from making contact with the service, I would say.
Cause we’re always very happy to work with people to find a solution that works so that you can access HIV and sexual testing in a way that doesn’t, that that preserves your privacy basically.
Yeah, thank you for that. Alex, we have a question for you. When are we going to expand the language of what practice?
Safe sex means? It doesn’t seem to have changed in the last 20 years. My experience has been this means use a condom, but it means so much more.
Never have I come across a young person that uses a DAM during oral sex. How can we give real direct advice around this?
Yeah, sure. So I think this is an interesting one because I think the language around safe sex. Has changed for some people and that’s kind of the problem.
We’ve had some really great targeted campaigns, for example. For sex workers and feel like gay and sn particularly but that’s mainly focused on those people who live in big cities and metropolitan areas.
I say it’s someone who lives in regional New South Wales. And as a queer afad person, the sex ed I was given, we didn’t even get used condoms.
We were like, when does it count? Okay. And I think it’s How of that thing where These, this just used condoms, they came out of the AIDS epidemic where we were really hammering that home because it was a life or death situation for people and now that that’s changed I think conversations like this.
And having a robust relationship with sexual health professionals in your JP. But also having those GPS trained and educated in things like queer sexual health.
And Quay Health in general. We need to be having these conversations and getting people into those spaces in order to give them other tools for little books.
In terms of dance, again, as a queer afad person, I think sex work is Might be there any people who actively use DEMS on the reg and that’s not a universal thing.
I think there’s a place for them, but I think there’s so little sex ads for clear people with the Giants or people with vaginas in general, it involved is if we’re being real.
That the idea is the only way you could use a DEM is every time you use, you have moral sex.
But realistically, they’re great for Say you have a, you think you might have a cold sore or like a little litter ball, or of your rimy.
Love talking about that at work. Or having anal, oral contact. There’s all these ways we can use, that have very direct impacts rather than just saying, use it all the time.
So it’s just having these robust conversations and relationships with healthcare professionals informed healthcare professionals, I guess is the.
The short long answer, the long short answer.
Yeah.
Yeah, that’s a great point. And also the importance of updating according to relevant latest resources because the information is changing at such a rapid pace.
We continually have so much knowledge, data, research and sources coming through. It’s almost like a software update that needs to be installed every so often.
So thank you for that. And We want to talk about. Promoting this conversation within our queer friends community.
So if anyone wants to take this question without seeming forceful, how can we promote this to our queer friends?
Bit of pensive silence here while we think about. And it’s a it’s a great question.
Listen, I’ll get the ball rolling. I think there is a lot of interest to talk about this topic and there and there is a lot of curiosity.
Hmm, maybe the the fear of, seeming ignorant, the fear of seeming naive of, feeling dumb.
Prevents people from opening up. And asking questions. I also think that stigma and shame, religious stigma, cultural stigma.
And the the fact that men who have sex with men for example are often doing it. On the download, which is to say that they don’t really want people to know and they aren’t really transparent about this part of their sexual lives, which might be, you know, very dangerous for them.
Actually. What I would say though is that you have to find a safe place to to be able to talk about these things.
Like-minded people are out there. I think the internet is a great tool. I think social media can be a great tool.
For example for queer middle eastern men There is an Instagram page linked to a community group. have big time, you know, that’s what we call it here.
There’s also a Sydney Queer Arabs. And there are, I’m sure several other groups for your own ethnic or cultural affiliation, whatever that might be.
It just takes a bit of digging. And I also think it takes a bit of courage and bravery to be the one to speak up and to recognize that there is Sexuality is one of the least.
Interesting facts about a person. You know, it’s like their hair color or their skin color.
It just is. It’s what you do with it and it’s the way that you make connections and form relationships.
That’s what makes life interesting and valuable. And worth living. So it’s very important that we get over that shame.
Actually, it’s very important that we talk about these things in a matter of fact way. Because they’re about our health and nothing is more important than your health.
So I think by beginning to show some bravery and having some courage, we can be into foremost connections.
I’ve said a lot now though, so I’ll give others a chance.
No, this is such great points, right? And what I’m hearing is really, being, I guess, in the space of curiosity and not putting people into boxes, but then also acknowledging that we’re all, I guess, no silly questions.
Hmm.
We’re all learning altogether and it also helps when you share a time when you’ve been wrong in the past and that helps the other person also share about certain questions that they might have.
So that’s a great place in terms of creating a safe place for people around you. And would anyone else like to add from the panel?
And I just add something really quick to that and kind of grow it adding on those. I guess a.
Practical tip I would give. Is work the fact that your getting tested for example into a conversation.
So if you’re like oh when can we meet for brunt she can say oh well I’ve got a STI I’ve got to go get an SDI test too so maybe you could do midday.
Or something like that. And just really If we’re talking about normalizing, not making it about them at all, but just demonstrating and leading by example.
And then it just gives someone an opportunity to be like, oh, you do that or? Oh, how do you do that?
I haven’t had one. Something I do with oh I used to do when I was younger with my friends.
Was Go on SDI testing dates. I don’t know that’s normal, but it can really make it less intimidating where, cuz I was across it already, being who I am.
My friends who had disclosed that they hadn’t been tested, they’re like, oh, let’s go.
So we’d go to the walking clinic and we do our little little tests. And then go get brunch and it’s A really tangible.
No.
That’s it. I’m putting that in my calendar date idea next week. Okay.
Like I was when I was in a big poly relationship, we literally do group dates, but just with friends and not even offering to go with someone.
Can be that that way to get over that initial hurdle.
Yeah, and like you said, you know, normalizing like, you know, in the past, mental health used to be such a stigmatized topic, but now it’s so normalized like, you know, telling your friends like, guess what my therapist told me the other day and it’s like seeing as normal so I really love that approach.
Thank you for sharing that Alex. Would anyone else like to add to that?
Sorry, I was just from a medical perspective, I guess. They’re all really good points and I was going to add that, you know, sexual health is, I mean, obviously looking after your own health, but it’s also looking after the health of your own health, but it’s also looking after the health of your sexual partners and having these conversations with friends is fantastic.
I would add having these conversations with friends is fantastic. I would add having these conversations with your sexual patch is fantastic.
I would add having these conversations with your sexual patch is really valuable as well. Knowing you know having you know knowing or having starting that conversation around When did you last get tested?
Okay.
Are you on prep? Are you not on prep? Do you know about prep? You might find that you know people haven’t heard about prep and you know would really benefit from starting on prep and by looking after each other that way you can make a big difference.
That’s such a great point. Thank you. And again, oh another question open to the panelists.
He’s talking about how to address education. So public education, school education, about sexual health promotion, which are usually provided to multicultural individuals in our communities.
What are some kind of channels and aspects we can look in in that space?
Things in education systems can be challenging. I know when they were developing the national curriculum, it’s very political i guess for lack of a better word to about what sexual health information we include.
And there is a lot of variation about What isn’t isn’t allowed. I was at school a while ago, but I went to a Catholic high school in regional New South Wales and we definitely weren’t getting the comprehensive stuff there.
And I’m definitely not the only one. Sure, I think there’s an ongoing process to deal with the mainstream education system.
So while we’re doing that, there’s more to do around. Community building and working within our own networks unfortunately.
Luckily without Network’s really powerful, so
Absolutely. Thank you. And that’s yeah, a real challenge. Joan, do you have anything to add there?
Yeah, and I absolutely agree with Alex. You know, I went to public school in the Hills district and I don’t remember anything about sexual education if they ever taught us anything.
But again as a 30 something year old woman I’m I’m still learning about sexual health what it means to me and you know getting tested SDIs just like we’ve just discussed.
So it is an ongoing journey. Jan, Cow and Daniel, I’ve also mentioned before, Danny, have also mentioned before about, you know, like not being ashamed to ask questions.
Yeah.
In an environment that you feel safe in. So who are those people? Identify them. Ask them.
Be best friends with your GP. Also if you find the one that you connect with. So yeah, education not in a sense of institutional institutions but also in our own communities and our networks.
I think it’s something that we can also remember.
Absolutely, such brilliant points. Jan Ka, anything to add?
Yeah, I just wanted to say, I think, there’s a, a role that, and, and, it’s, it’s not a 1 life straight.
I think we can. Nice one, to, to the point that, you’re not having the education, because for whatever reason, getting it, it doesn’t mean you can’t educate others if, in sharing, like, you’ve all, everyone he has now got resources, you know, why can’t take those resources to the people who don’t have that exist and you being a
leader in doing that. It’s such a really important role especially in these conversations aren’t normalized, things you people all talked about.
And then, and so that really becomes a question of how to have the conversation having it in a frame that the person really in sounds like I know really if you never talked about protection before then talk about protection, frame, family planning.
To be a really important way, if you’ve never talked about protection in frame and safe family planning.
To be a really important way, just to the topic of I’m saying, I’ll say of, of, protection.
And so just thinking about ways in which you can train in, in, in what you said, and then taking people on a journey.
As late as like and it’s individuals to have the conversations if you’re not getting yourself
Absolutely. And the power that we all have as individuals and our collective, we all have power, privilege to through the positions we’re in through the rooms that we’re in to have these conversations.
Before we wrap up, I’d love to go around the room to each one of the panelists and just kind of check in where people can find you where the best place is and one quick short 5 second takeaway that you want each of our 108 participants to have.
I’ll start with you, Dr. Vincent.
Thanks. But I’m on the north coast of New South Wales. I’m pretty well hidden in the, this bush lands here.
But I was going to say, because these are all really great points, I think for further information, really wanted to highlight that there are really great community organizations in Australia.
So every state has a state-based what used to be called an AIDS Council and they’ve been rebranded over the years.
So of course in New South Wales we We’ve got Thorn Harbor Health in Victoria. We’ve got healthy communities in Queensland, whack in WA.
The other ones in the other states. Rambles are top my head, but they’re really great organizations staffed by community people with lived experience who are very happy to talk to people about sexual health and you know talk to you about what options are available to you, provide you lots of education.
I have to say I agree, well I’ve got lots of grazing my beards I haven’t met the school in a while but certainly my experience in school was also not great around sexual health education so if you missed out there are many opportunities to get that education now.
Thank you so much, Danny.
You can find me on Danny, underscore, that’s NO UI and Thanelli or you are for Roger on Instagram and you could also hit me up if you wanted me for speaking or presenting opportunities.
With schools or young people particularly i suppose young people of color on my website which is dan.com.
Daniel.com and you can submit an inquiry to the form there and I’ll get back to you, really quickly.
You asked about the takeaway today.
5 second.
Speak up would be my takeaway speak up don’t be ashamed
Love that. Thank you. Alex.
This has been amazing. So if you want to find me, I guess the best place would be LinkedIn, at Alex James Communicator, all one word, but most importantly is, the Red Book Online, which is my book, Don’t Scarlet, Alliance.
Dot org. And you can email me through there or, red book at start alliance.
Dot org.au if people have Questions I wanna ask for specific information and the Skylet Alliance website in general has really amazing resources across a broader range of sex worker related issues.
In terms of the takeaway, you mentioned before the phrase, nothing about us without us. That’s very much the mantra around sex worker health and policy and everything like that.
And I think especially if you’re a health provider or someone in a position of power. Make sure you’re listening and co-designing things with the communities because they, our communities know what they need.
And those resources are there. And I think today’s a great example of that.
Thank you, Alex.
Thank you. If you wanna take same touch, you can find me, J, on LinkedIn, for the best place.
I might actually take away, find someone you can trust to have the conversation. First, st like, encourage yourself to be the best he would live JP.
You can’t afford a JP and then find, find something, you can trust to have that conversation.
Detected from that.
Thank you. And Joanne.
Yeah, I’m best way to find me also LinkedIn Joe and Kim.
Also as part of the Australian women’s health alliance they’re doing some work to amplify intersection agenda approaches to health.
They’re launching a free webinar cause if you’re interested on 19th of June, there might be a link in the checkbox.
So go check that out if you are especially health providers, policy workers, advocacy people who are interested in gender discriminations to health and how we can tackle that together.
One take away for me personally is to normalize the conversations, put it in your diary.
You have a conversation with your friend, every, you have a conversation with your friend every day because health is.
And we can’t compromise that
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. And for everyone who’s been listening in, you can also connect with me on LinkedIn.
It’s just my name, Rugen Megani. And I just want to thank you everyone for the brilliant panelists for lending your voices to this important health topic and for advocating and for your time.
A special special shout out and thank you to the team behind the scenes who made us all come together who made this happen.
Huge thank you and we encourage you all to ensure that conversations around sexual health, STR prevention and testing don’t end here.
And it’s all our responsibility to move beyond the taboo and the stigma STI by having these both conversations.
So please keep the conversation going in your communities, use the advice, use the resources and insights and don’t forget to check out the website health.
You and we have some translated resources in there as well for language information for the in language information. And yeah, it’s been an absolute honor and privilege as someone who’s really passionate about inclusive well-being.
I’m so honored to be in this conversation. So thank you to everyone who’s attended and our panelists and the team behind this.
Thank you and have a brilliant day.
Thank you everyone.
Thank you