FUN and games in the main street of Dubbo on Wednesday were part of a bid to warn teenagers and young adults about a "predominantly silent" infection that can result from unprotected sex.
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Representatives of the Western NSW Local Health District's Dubbo Sexual Health, Family Planning NSW Dubbo Centre, headspace Dubbo and Dubbo City Youth Council pulled out all stops in a campaign encouraging "consistent condom use"
A pop-up photo booth, "quiz wheel" on sexual health and "how many balls can you get in a condom" competition were among the activities that engaged passers-by.
They walked away with prizes including chocolates, condom tins, lollies and glow sticks, along with advice about chlamydia.
Hump Day in Dubbo and other parts of NSW during National Youth Week focused on chlamydia that left untreated can lead to infertility.
Dubbo Sexual Health manager Margie Crowley reported that it was the most frequently notified sexually-transmitted infection in young people in the state.
"At the end of 2014 there was almost 23,000 notifications of chlamydia across NSW," she said.
"Fifty-four per cent of the 23,000 were in the 15 to 24 age group."
Ms Crowley said Chlamydia was a bacterial infection passed on through unprotected sex.
"It's predominately silent," she said.
"More often than not people don't have symptoms and don't realise they have got it.
"It can result in pelvic inflammatory disease where the infection travels further into the reproductive tract and can lead to infertility."
Ms Cowley's advice to participants in unprotected sex is to get tested. "It's very simple," she said. "In males it's a urine test and in females a self-collected vaginal swab that involves no examination," she said.
"You can get tested for Chlamydia at Dubbo Sexual Health, Family Planning NSW Dubbo Centre, also through GPs and Aboriginal medical services."
Dubbo City Youth Council members were set to spread the message of "consistent condom use" at Dubbo hotels on Wednesday night.
Ms Crowley thanked Hump Day supporters in Dubbo, including the Church Street Cafe, Amaroo Hotel, South Dubbo Tavern, Commercial Hotel, The Monkey Bar, Pastoral Hotel, Urban Beach at Orana Mall and Jay Jays in Macquarie Street.
Visit www.playsafe.health.nsw. gov.au for more information.
