Sex health ads target risk-taking young

LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) Semi-naked models wearing underwear adorned with slogans such as ''I've Got Gonorrhoea'' appear in a government campaign aimed at tackling a rise in sexual diseases among young people.

Advertisements also feature men and women in T-shirts emblazoned with the words ''I'll Give You One'' above a headline explaining ''it's not this easy to tell'' if someone is infected.

Public Health Minister Caroline Flint said she hoped the advertisements would alert young people to the risks and would encourage them to use condoms.

''You can't tell just by looking whether someone has a sexually transmitted infection,'' Flint said today. ''Sex without a condom is seriously risky.'' The campaign, which cost 4 million pounds, will run on television, radio, Internet and in magazines, from November. 20.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has urged people to do more to protect themselves from sexual diseases.

Cases of syphilis rose by nearly a quarter last year, the Health Protection Agency said in July. There were also rises, albeit smaller, for chlamydia, genital warts and genital herpes.

Rates of teenage pregnancy are the highest in Europe, a parliamentary committee said in June.

The Health Select Committee blamed the problems on a lack on investment, poor political leadership and the absence of a proper strategy to tackle the issue.

The Department of Health said fewer than one in five young people carries a condom when they go out.

REUTERS BDP PM1354