Half of young British men visiting Ibiza have unprotected sex

By Richard Hurley London

One in 10 men visiting Ibiza have sex with at least six people, half do not use condoms, and the proportion of visitors having unprotected sex is increasing, according to new research (Sex Transm Infect 2004;80:43-7). One in four men and one in seven women had sex with more than one person during an average 10 day stay, fuelling concern over the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Researchers from the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University surveyed 1500 British travellers aged 16-35 who were waiting yo check in for their flight home in 2000, 2001, and 2002. The anonymous questionnaires asked their reasons for visiting Ibiza and their sexual behaviour on the island and back home. Although most people visited the island for its music and clubs, a fifth of men went for sex and a similar proportion for drugs.

The survey also indicates that one in 12 visitors in the age group will have sex with someone from outside the United Kingdom. Given that more than 250 000 young people visit Ibiza from the United Kingdom a year, this "represents a substantial conduit for transmission of sexually transmitted infections between countries."

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Mark Bellis, who led the research, said, "Summer holidays provide an escape from the social mores of family, work, or education accompanied by increases in sexual risk... followed by rises in demand for emergency contraception, increased attendance at sexual health clinics, and additional requests for terminations among young people."

Incidence of sexually transmitted diseases is increasing, and last year the UK government launched a £4m ($7.4m; €5.9m) "sex lottery" advertising campaign to tackle the problem. Public health minister Melanie Johnson said, "We are concerned about the levels of unprotected sex highlighted by this survey. But it does confirm that we are targeting our sex lottery campaign at the right people." But only 14% of the holidaymakers asked in Ibiza had received any information about sexual health.



studentBMJ 2004;12:89-132 March ISSN 0966-6494