Letter to the Editor: Can sex education counteract rise of STIs?

As the final hours approached for making submissions to the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), Dr Caroline West encouraged readers to support proposals that would empower students to make “informed decisions that are right for them’ — ‘High time our sex education reflected modern Irish society” (Irish Examiner, October 25).

She claims this is an “opportunity to have comprehensive sex education that empowers young people instead of failing them”; “Ireland has a new HIV diagnosis every 18 hours, STIs are on the increase”, and “young people are consistently telling us they need information and support around sex education”.