UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 19 JUNE 2015
Festival-goers off to Glastonbury next week are being urged to put health on a par with hedonism by putting condoms and baby wipes on the list of essentials to take with them.
According to a public health expert from Birmingham City University the consequences of unplanned sex and poor hand sanitation are high on the list of what could go wrong when spending several days in a muddy field.
Matt Griffiths, Visiting Professor of Prescribing and Medicines Management at Birmingham City University, said: "People prepare their camping equipment, dust off their wellies and buy their boxes of red wine but one thing they often don't think about or prepare for is their health.
"Relationships do blossom at festivals, and even if you aren't planning on having an intimate relationship, take some condoms just in case."
Professor Griffiths, who has spent 25 years volunteering at Glastonbury as part of a medical team which sees around 4,000 people every year, added: "The rate of Chlamydia in the younger population is around one in eight. As there are no specific symptoms people don't realise that they have it. It is relatively easy to treat, but left untreated it can cause problems later on in life.
"HIV and other sexually transmitted conditions are also still out there, and sometimes seem to have been forgotten about.
"Hand hygiene is probably the best thing we can all do at festivals. Soap and water, alcohol hand rub or baby wipes are great assets for the festival goer, enabling people to have some sort of wash in their tents, and taking care of basic sanitation."