Bermudians are not being fully informed about sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention because some aspects of sexuality are still considered too taboo to be discussed publicly.

While they are using condoms for protection against STDs during intercourse, people do not appear to be using protection when performing oral sex -- placing them at risk for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, herpes and HIV.

The Government Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit has not conducted an official study to see whether people are using protection against STDs when performing oral sex.

However statistics show that of the 433 reported cases of STDs in 1999, 223 of those were cases of chlamydia, 79 were gonorrhoea and 52 were herpes.

Government epidemiologist Rhonda Daniels said people had to be aware of the risks of coming into contact with someone else's bodily fluids.

She said: "We always mention considering protection from STDs transmitted through oral sex because you can catch gonorrhoea or chlamydia of the throat or herpes.

"And a lot of people don't realise that if you have a cold sore on your lip you can transfer that to someone's sexual organs should you perform oral sex on him or her.'' The most encouraged form of protection when performing oral sex is a condom -- sliced open and spread over the vaginal opening when used on a woman.

But, in the US, people are encouraged to use latex dental dams which are not advertised or available to the public in Bermuda.

The dams are six-inch latex squares which come in different colours and can be lain over a woman's vagina.

Ms Daniels said the Department encouraged the use of dental dams but they were not available in Bermuda.

"We recommend them, but where would we get them?'' she questioned.

"Then again, there is no demand and no one will bring them in,'' she continued.

Local intimate apparel store Rayjuan's Lingerie used to carry them but discontinued their sale because they did not sell well.

And Allan Vincent Smith Foundation director Michael Fox said dental dams would not sell well because no one knew about them.

He added that the Foundation had a demonstration for peer education at one point where some dental dams were brought in and he said people used them.

However there was no demand for them when they were all gone.

Mr. Fox said: "It's an alternative for people to protect themselves when performing oral sex on a female but people don't know about it.

"And no one even uses condoms when performing oral sex on men.'' Oral sex: A taboo subject While Ms Daniels said she agreed that people were probably not using any form of protection for oral sex, she added that the only way to get people to use sexual protection, such as dental dams, was to have them available.

"You create a demand by having them available,'' she said.

"Sometimes you even have to give people things for free to get them to use them,'' she added.

She noted that people were using condoms because they took them from the clinic where they were displayed for free.

Ms Daniels said the Department encouraged people to consider protecting themselves when performing oral sex when it talked about STD prevention in general.

But she said it was a difficult and tiring task educating Bermudians about STD prevention.

She mentioned a recent beach party that took place at Horseshoe Bay and said she was appalled at what she heard went on there.

One scantily clad woman allegedly played with herself inappropriately while on stage, she said.

And she added that she heard many other sexually promiscuous things took place at the party.

"I don't know how we can educate these people. People don't want to talk about these issues,'' she continued.

Especially in Bermuda, where people do not want to talk about sex publicly, added Ms Daniels.

She mentioned the 1990 "use your condom sense'' campaign which created a lot of controversy.

And she said the topic of oral sex was certainly a taboo one and that people would much rather assume no one was doing it.

Those who do admit to performing oral sex, use the same excuses for not protecting themselves as has been used for condoms -- it prevents pleasure.

But Ms Daniels said: "Those are just reasons not to use protection.'' She suggested that people should shop around for the barrier which makes them most comfortable.

"It's like the pill -- you have to find one you like,'' she said.

And she said people must talk about these issues.

"I don't know what we will do to get people to talk about these issues,'' she said.

"They have to talk about prevention before they have problems,'' she added.

But she said that even if people wanted to talk about these issues, there were limited funds to launch prevention campaigns.

"We have to find money to talk about prevention.

"We know prevention is cheaper than the cure, but we need money to launch advertising campaigns.'' She said the Health Promotion Budget should say how much money is allotted for sexual health.

And Ms Daniels said it was not only the responsibility of the department to notify the public as to how to protect themselves.

She said other local organisations also have a role to play in educating Bermudians.

"It's not only our responsibility,'' she said.

"Other organisations need to talk about STD prevention as well.'' She noted that groups talking about drug prevention should also talk about sexual protection as many drug users are at risk for STDs.

"It's guaranteed that people who are on drugs can come up with STDs because they are using drugs and are definitely not thinking about using a condom or a dental dam or whatever,'' she said.

And she said apathetic people expect that people will look out for them and that they have no role to play in their own protection.

"I don't know who they think should be responsible for educating their children,''she said.