American Journal of Managed Care: YouTube Social Media Influencers Promote Inaccurate Birth Control Content, Study Finds

American Journal of Managed Care: YouTube Social Media Influencers Promote Inaccurate Birth Control Content, Study Finds. “Unplanned pregnancies could result from adopting social media influencers’ contraception advice, according to new research, which found the content largely inaccurate and incomplete. Researchers from the University of Delaware discovered that YouTube searches presented information about discontinuing birth control rather than safe sex or contraception. The study was published in Health Communication and highlights how for some young adults, social media has become a main source of sexual health knowledge.”

Covid chaos fueled another public health crisis: STDs (Politico)

Politico: Covid chaos fueled another public health crisis: STDs. “After an initial dip when the pandemic began in the spring of 2020, cases of gonorrhea and syphilis surged, reaching new highs by the end of the year, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Progress on HIV, which President Donald Trump pledged to end by 2030, also slowed significantly. Public health experts expect that when the CDC releases 2021 numbers later this year, they will show that Covid-19 made a bad situation exponentially worse as clinics closed, people lost health insurance and risky behavior surged.”

University at Buffalo: Innovative chatbot provides safe space for young people to learn about sexual and reproductive health

University at Buffalo: Innovative chatbot provides safe space for young people to learn about sexual and reproductive health. “An innovative chatbot designed for sharing critical information about sexual and reproductive health (SRH) with young people in India is demonstrating how artificial intelligence (AI) applications can engage vulnerable and hard-to-reach population segments.”

National Geographic: Rates of sexually transmitted infections likely rose during the pandemic

National Geographic: Rates of sexually transmitted infections likely rose during the pandemic. “Stay-at-home orders, coupled with a fear of exposure to COVID-19, seemingly kept many people confined at home and out of the arms of unknown partners throughout much of 2020. But in a counterintuitive twist, experts are warning of a probable—and alarming—increase in cases of sexually transmitted infections in the United States. The main concern is that the pandemic hampered testing efforts for diseases such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis during the past two years.”

University of Michigan: How students used social media and memes to change a University of Michigan sexual health policy

Michigan Advance: How students used social media and memes to change a University of Michigan sexual health policy . “The University of Michigan has a long history of politically active movements, from the 1962 Port Huron Statement, the first-ever teach-in in 1965 and picket-sign style protests to fight segregation. But today, students have a new form of political creativity: memes, Twitter updates and Instagram stories.”