Minister for Primary Care Alex White was on hand to launch a new exhibition at the Outhouse in Dublin promoting the notion of safe sex among gay men.
Minister for Primary Care Alex White was on hand to launch a new exhibition at the Outhouse in Dublin promoting the notion of safe sex among gay men.
Translating Man2Man was created by the Gay Health Network (GHN) and the HSE and features posters and videos in nine different languages which are also available online at man2man.ie.
According to GHN manager Mick Quinlan, the exhibition forms part of the National Sexual Health Strategy and its message is straight-forward: use condoms get tested, get treatment if needed, and encourage respect.
The campaign is aimed primarily at people “for whom English is not the first language,” said the GHN’s Susan Donlon.
The poster models, who are all volunteers, also represent Ireland’s ethnic and cultural diversity, with the intention of bringing the message to as wide an audience as possible.
“We know that approximately 30 per cent of the gay community [here] is not born in Ireland,” said Quinlan. “This campaign had to be fully available for people from all communities.”
Gay men are still the biggest at-risk population in Ireland when it comes to rates of sexually transmitted infections.
The last Health Protection Surveillance Center (HPSC) HIV report noted 91 new diagnoses of HIV infection during the third quarter of 2012. Of those, more than 50 per cent were of men who have sex with men.
“The purpose is clearly to encourage them to make safer choices,” said Minister White.
Quinlan added that it is not an easy task to raise awareness among gay minorities. “There is a lack of resources to reach them,” he said. “And we know that, especially in rural areas, none of them test.”
Translating Man2Man is open to the public at the Outhouse on Capel Street until 6 January before moving on to Dublin City libraries, then Cork, Galway and Letterkenny.
