SINGAPORE, Dec 12 (AFP) - Singapore teens are to be bombarded with horror pictures showing body parts disfigured by sexually-transmitted diseases in a government attempt to quell a growing cavalier attitude to casual sex.
A 10-page magazine called "Teenagers Ask," depicting the horrors of sex diseases, will be distributed to secondary-three pupils next year, a Health Promotions Board spokesman said Thursday.
The 15-year-olds will be shown colour pictures of people suffering from diseases such as gonorrhoea, chlamydia and syphilis, to illustrate the horrors of casual and premarital sex.
"We have used graphic pictures before, the only difference about this is that it is more conversational, it's in a magazine format to appeal to teenagers," the spokesman told AFP.
Singapore authorities have repeatedly expressed concern about rising teen promiscuity, with a recent survey finding that nearly one in five Singaporeans aged 13-18 have engaged in sexual intercourse, up sharply on 3.4 percent in 1999.
Teenage abortions are also on the rise, with 1,698 abortions, or 13 percent of last year's total being performed on women aged 20 and younger.
The tiny city-state earlier this year signed up to "No Apologies: The Truth About Life, Love and Sex", a programme launched in the United States that advocates abstinence until marriage.
Singapore teens enrolled in the programme will participate in a four-hour workshop, learning how to handle sexuality issues and signing a pledge not to have sex before they marry.
A recent global sex survey found one-third of some 870 Singaporeans aged 16 to 30 surveyed practise unsafe sex. Nearly half said they would have sex with a new partner without a condom.
Parents and teens shown the new magazine were said to have been shaken by the pictures.
"The pictures are gross, but the scarier the better because it's the fear factor that will stop people from taking sex casually," 15-year-old Ben Tay told the Straits Times.
The Health Promotion Board said it wanted teenagers "to feel comfortable reading about 'the other side of the sex story'," which has to include awareness of AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs).
The straight-shooting magazine also contains a "Dear Aunt Aida" column, which provides candid answers on questions about sex.
Under Singapore law, people under aged 18 planning to marry must participate in a marriage-preparation programme.
Nearly all 150 brides enrolled in the course in the last two years were pregnant.
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