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Company News
13 November 2006
SEXUAL HEALTH GROUP
PLC
(“Sexual Health Group” or “the Company”)
NEW GOVERNMENT CAMPAIGN
ON SEXUAL HEALTH
REVEALS ‘ESSENTIAL WEAR’
FOR YOUNG ADULTS
TV, radio and magazine
ads to promote condom use and Sexual Health
Group invited to become a stakeholder in
the campaign
Sexual Health Group, a national supplier of
sexual health products to customers including
the NHS, is pleased to announce that it has
been invited to become a stakeholder in the
Government’s new hard hitting sexual
health campaign. The Department of Health’s
campaign will urge sexually active young adults
to make condoms essential wear when they are
out on the "pull.”
Television, magazine and radio ads alongside
online advertising will specifically target
young men and women who are most at risk of
infection. The TV ad shows couples getting
together in scenarios where the name of a Sexually
Transmitted Infection (STI) is clearly displayed
on their clothing or jewellery, highlighting
the stark reality that these infections are
not easy to spot. Images used in the magazines
and online advertising continue this theme,
while radio adverts focus on the physical consequences
of catching an STI.
The new TV advert will be on air from 20 November.
It will be screened on satellite channels,
Channel 4 and Channel 5. Magazine adverts will
appear in key titles for the 18 to 24 year
old market. Radio and on-line advertising will
run from the 27th November. The campaign is
initially scheduled to run for the pre-Christmas
and Valentines periods – times of the
year where rates of STI contraction are traditionally
higher.
The new £4 million campaign is part
of a wider Government initiative to improve
sexual health and tackle teenage pregnancy.
It complements the existing campaigns, ‘R
U Thinking?’ which is aimed at the under
16s, and ‘Want Respect? Use a condom’,
aimed at 16 to 18 year old socially excluded
teenagers. Both are delivered by the Department
for Education and Skills.
Launching the campaign Public Health Minister
Caroline Flint said: “Improving
the nation’s sexual health is a key Government
priority and improving access times to sexual
health clinics, chlamydia screening and this
campaign will all help to drive down the number
of cases of STIs.
“Some STIs like chlamydia are
on the increase amongst 18 to 24 year-olds
and it is vital that we deliver strong messages
about using condoms to prevent them. The
aim of this campaign is to make carrying
and using a condom among this age group as
familiar as carrying a mobile phone, lipstick
or putting on a seat-belt. This is not about
encouraging promiscuity, but saying to those
who are already sexually active: sex without
a condom is seriously risky, so always use
one.
“The message of this campaign
is that you can’t tell just by looking
whether someone has an STI. Some infections,
such as chlamydia, often have no noticeable
symptoms and others cannot be cured, so taking
responsibility for your own sexual health
should always be your key priority.”
Commenting on the campaign and the news of
the Company becoming a stakeholder, Chief Executive
George Sutherland said: “With
in excess of 1.5 million new episodes of sexual
infection seen each year in sexual health clinics,
the need to improve young people’s perceptions
of safer sex and condom use is now greater
than ever. Condomania condoms, has been successfully
assisting a number of NHS Trusts to promote
their services to young people, and are delighted
to be a stakeholder in the new Condom Essential
Wear campaign, and look forward to working
with the Department of Health on this important
new project.”
---ENDS---
The Directors of the Company accept responsibility
for this announcement.
Enquiries:
Sexual Health Group Plc Tel:
01635 874393
John French, Chairman
George Sutherland, CEO
Bishopsgate Communications Ltd.
Tel: 020 7430 1600
Dominic Barretto
Fran Read
St Helen’s Capital Plc Tel: 020 7628 5582
Barry Hocken Mobile: 07759 942 830
COPIES OF THE GOVERNMENT ADVERTS ARE
AVAILABLE TO JOURNALISTS TO USE IN BROADCASTS
/ PRINT
Notes to Editors:
The new adult sexual health campaign is part
of DH’s Sexual Health and HIV Strategy,
which is a long-term plan to improve and modernise
sexual health services. The strategy includes,
rollout of chlamydia screening for the under
25s, 48hr access to GU clinics, the development
of service standards and in improving access
to contraception. Copies of the adverts are
available to journalists to use in broadcast/print
from the DH press office on 020 7210 5889/5221
About Sexual Health Group:
The Company's business was founded in 2000,
and is a national supplier of sexual health
products. The Company initially created the
Condomania brand as a supplier of condoms to
major professional customers such as the NHS
and is actively engaged in the production of
complementary products, including sterile lubricant,
for the sexual health market.
The Condomania brand has already achieved
a share of approximately 9% of the NHS Condom
market which equates to 2.25% of the total
UK market. Condomania has shown substantial
growth in sales and distribution. At 11 products,
it has one of the widest ranges of condoms
available via the NHS in the UK. The Company's
strategy is to bring a pipeline of new products
in sexual health to the UK market.
The Company successfully won a contract to
supply NHS Logistics England with its sterile
Sutherland Lubricating Jelly in 2005.
Sexual Health Group has been focusing on the
development of its relationship with the NHS,
and has developed its profile through this
relationship. This will remain as a major part
of its strategy for growth.
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