Recently an article on Fiji Times Online talked about how for the past eight years the Fijians in the ages of 20-29 years being affected by STI,s ,Gonorrhea ,Syphilis, and this is elaborated by Dr Samuela as the effects by having unprotected sex by our youth today .He said these figures were very alarming and of concern for many reasons.

"These are very high rates for Fiji's population. It highlights the underlying concern of unsafe sexual behaviour among young people. This is the same high-risk behaviour for the transmission of HIV.

"The most affected are in the productive times of their lives, could be studying in tertiary institutions, or earning money

"Unfortunately, in today's society, the family is not fulfiling that role for many reasons because of break-ups, divorce, single parent, absentee parents and poor parental examples.

"In Fiji we pride ourselves in that every family has a religious affiliation.

"However, the question we need to ask is whether religion is playing its role in helping parents to fulfill their responsibilities?

"I see religion playing a more important and influential role here than any government department."

Dr Samuela said the ministry had a limited role in terms of addressing the problem of STIs.

He said it involved stakeholders but the primary responsibility was with parents, adolescents and young people.

"As has been emphasised many times, sex is serious business.

Dr Samuela said contributing factors range from peer pressure, substance abuse, distorted views of sex, the influence of the media and entertainment industry through television and movies and the internet.

In the recent development incurring in our every day life..where new things are being experimented by our children........Parents whether single mothers or father must continue to take out most of their time in looking after their children and telling them the consequences faced by people who have unprotected sex....

Links:http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=102701