Uganda is poised for good education

SIR— Straight Talk Foundation (STF) is very happy about the directive on sex education from President Museveni. It has come at a perfect time. HIV rates have fallen. The teenage pregnancy rate fell from 43 to 31% between 1995 and 2000. But the President is right: we still face an emergency. STF has been carrying out sex education in secondary schools since 1993 and primary schools since 1998. We want to give some encouragement.First, to headteachers who are not sure what to do, we say: “Start by using Straight Talk (secondary schools) and Young Talk (primary schools)”. You can ensure that students have access to the papers and the time to read them. The papers can be read in groups, guided by the teacher, or by individuals in or out of class. Our newspapers systematically cover issues such as growth, development and menstruation and the skills young people need such as assertiveness. Our articles are accurate, age-appropriate, written by local experts and rooted in the beliefs that:- Adolescents have the right to information about reproductive health and safer sex options, including condom use.- Abstaining from sex is the most effective way to prevent pregnancy and HIV/STDs.Second, we want to reassure the public that sex education does not teach the mechanics of sexual intercourse nor does it hasten the onset of sexual intercourse or increase its frequency. Instead, it empowers the young to make informed and safe decisions about sex.Let us work together: we face a very big task. Many adolescents believe that abstinence causes the penis to atrophy or a bone to grow in the vagina. Many believe that sex cures menstrual pain or that semen can finish and is wasted if put in a condom. Due to lack of adult support and love, many adolescents have sex for gifts. Uganda is uniquely poised to carry out effective sex education. Catharine WatsonAnne Akia FiedlerDirectors, Straight Talk Foundation, Kampala