LUBBOCK, Texas — Concerns about rising rates of syphilis, isolation among seniors, and drunk driving led the City of Lubbock Department of Public Health to launch a “Lubbock Let's” event on Thursday, April 18, where citizens can comment and ask questions. It was the subject of discussion when it was hosted. Questions regarding the current state of public health in the city.
This was the first time the Lubbock Health Department hosted this information session. One of the biggest concerns raised was the rapidly rising rates of syphilis and the lack of sex education for teenagers.
“Can we talk about sex? Can we talk about sex in Lubbock, Texas?” one community member asked, sparking a long discussion about sex education in the group.
“It's absolutely amazing what students don't know,” said another Lubbock community member and teacher.
In particular, in Lubbock, where the incidence of syphilis has increased by 500% in recent years, citizens called on schools and parents to “just talk about it.”
“If you're going to have sex, make sure it's safe, because there are STDs that I can cure, and there are certain infections that I can cure that you're going to carry with you for the rest of your life,” Dr. Ron says. said Cook, who works in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
Catherine Wells, the city's director of public health, responded to comments and offered some possible solutions.
“We say, 'Oh, this is something parents should talk to their kids about,' but we don't necessarily teach them or give them those tools. So this becomes a two-way approach. We're going to work with both young people and also educate adults on how to talk to kids about this,” Wells said.
However, concrete solutions in the community will only come after all the information from health department-sponsored discussions and public health survey responses is gathered. They plan to submit their findings to the Board of Health in June. From there, Wells said, there could be an opportunity to present it to the Lubbock City Council.
“We're really looking at what the future direction of public health is going to look like in our community over the next five years and the next 10 years,” Wells said.
While sex education was a major topic of discussion, another widely discussed issue was the isolation of older people.
“It's sad for the elderly,” said one citizen who attended the rally.
Wells added that other big takeaways from the meeting were high rates of child abuse, domestic violence, food insecurity and access to health care.
Mr. Wells, along with other medical experts who participated in Thursday's briefing, reviewed all topics discussed.
“That's why we're having consultation sessions like this…to hear from different parts of our community what their biggest concerns are. And yes, there are a lot. I did,” Wells said.
If you would like to add your opinion on Lubbock public health, you can find a link to the survey here.
