Outside of spring break, New Year’s Eve may be the biggest time of the year for risky behavior including unprotected sex. An Arizona campaign, now in its second year, is out to encourage safe sex among holiday partiers. John Welch with the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS said there is a strong connection between substance use and sexually-transmitted infections.
"When you hear somebody sharing their story about when they became infected, a lot of times it starts with, 'One night when I was drunk…,’” Welch said. “All it takes is one time, and when you think about rates of other sexually-transmitted infections including HIV, you know rates of Chlamydia and Gonorrhea are extremely high and especially high among young people."
The Party Prepared safe sex effort features condoms disguised as matchbooks, which will be handed out during New Year’s Eve parties at bars, restaurants, hotels and nightclubs around metro Phoenix and Tucson.