I am in Milan, a very Italian city with extraordinary shopping opportunities and quite a few cultural highlights (the last supper painting, the “duomo” and La Scala can be mentioned). I am attending the annual International Union against Sexually Transmitted Infections (IUSTI) meeting. Browsing through the programme I see that I have a lot to look forward to and a lot to learn this week. But, also looks like there will be room for some fun….

Although STI’s are a serious matter, a few of the talks have titles that sounds entertaining, which of course, makes them a must-hear, – which I am sure is (mostly) intentional. Some examples:

Best ones first:

How to catch the casanovas

Entertainment education for sexual and reproductive health

That last one I hope is not porn.

In the category “lost ?”

CHLAMYDIA SCREENING IN THE UNITED STATES: WHERE ARE WE NOW?

In the US !!??

Next category: still lost, but spatially defined:

Syphilis and Genito-Ulcer Diseases: Where are we now?

Well we’re clearly not in the upper part of the body are we….

And finally in the category, not lost, but still:

Chlamydia Screening in Europe: do we Know where we are going ?

And in the category of titles that just sound strange:

A quantified green tea extract in the treatment of external ano-genital warts

Vulvodynia: a brief overview

Putting sex back into STI prevention

“A brave new world?” – Experiences of STI testing, prescribing and
dispensing via the Internet

If this last title holds any truth, I am simply horrified by the prospects of STI dispensing via the internet…..

And finally, for the fashionable (very Milan’ish !!)

Designer genitals/genital adornments

Joking aside, this looks like it is going to be a very informative meeting. And, behind most of these titles are, even if they sound strange, serious issues like dealing with the continuing spread of sexually transmitted infections and how to eradicate the bugs causing them. The implications are no laughing matter as all HIV-patients and infertile couples (Chlamydia, Trichomonas, Mycoplasma ?) will tell you.