The provision of the best possible care for young people in today’s society, with pressure towards sexuality coming not just from the internal forces towards maturity which have always been present, but also from the peer group and, most strongly, from the media, is not easy for the professional. There is an over-riding need to provide the practical help necesssary to reduce the risks in an atmosphere that is acceptable to the patient, as has been described in this chapter. Considerable skill is needed to allow the patient to feel that her sexuality is allowable and valuable, while at the same time warning her of the health risks.

What, then, of the more general health education that is offered to other patients? The family planning consultation is seen as an ideal opportunity to broach such subjects as smoking and obesity, but the young person may feel such advice to be ‘yet another lecture’. If given unthinkingly, she or he may be antagonized so that they stop coming for the contraceptive help which is so desperately needed. However, if given sensitively and at an appropriate time, the assumption that she or he is now grown up enough to want to look after themselves can enhance self-esteem.

Perhaps the most difficult dilemma for the doctor, as for young people themselves in the age of AIDS, is to reconcile the strong, inevitable and healthy emotional and sexual drives, with the possible risk of serious damage to their health or even death. The equation

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