Q: How effective is the day-after pill?

DH: That's a good question! They say that if one has unprotected sex one has seventy-two hours, three days [to take the day-after pill and have it be effective). They say that the sooner you take the pill, the more effective it will be although we can't know exactly because we don't know exactly how fertile the woman is in the moment in which she had sex. So they say the day-after pill lowers the risk of getting pregnant by approximately seventy-five percent.

Q: Does it help prevent AIDS?

DH: No, only pregnancy. I've heard that they are now testing a pill that will prevent HIV, one that functions like a vaccine, something prophelactic, that a person could take before having sex if a person is at high risk, if they are a sexual worker or something similar or if their partner is high risk. They are testing this pill in Asia and in Africa. But there is no pill to prevent HIV; so the only way to prevent it while having sex is by using a condom.

OK. Now about sexually transmitted diseases. We've already talked about HIV and AIDS but can someone mention another sexually transmitted disease?

Q: Syphilis

DH: Syphilis, very good.

Q: Gonorrhea

DH: Yes, Gonorrhea as well.

Q: Chancre

DH: Yes, Chancre too.

Q: What is Chancre?

DH: Chancre is a bacterial infection that looks like a blister, like herpes, but it is like a wart, like a pimple, but it doesn't have any water within it. Ok. So we've mentioned syphilis, gonorrhea, chancre, herpes. Anything else?

Ok, let's start with those. There are sexually transmitted diseases that are bacterial in nature, like gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis and chancre that one can treat with antibiotics. In general, these are easily treated. But for other illnesses, like herpes, genital warts, papilloma and HIV AIDS that are viruses, we do not have a cure. Treatments exist, but no cures. There is a high percentage of sexually active people who have herpes; we are talking about something like sixty percent of people of reproductive age that are having sex that have the virus in their bodies but don't show any symptoms of having it. The only way to prevent getting herpes is using a condom.

Deborah Horowitz recently graduated from Columbia University with her Masters degree in public health and a concentration in reproductive and adolescent health. As an under-graduate she studied medical anthropology and Spanish at the University of Pennsylvania. Her professional experience includes two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Central America, reproductive health research in Washington Heights, and non-profit management in Philadelphia. Her interests are in reproductive health, human rights, and international development.