Young people from the West Midlands take more risks with their sexual health than anyone else in the country when they go on holiday.
The study carried out by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office found more than two thirds of people surveyed from the region cited 'having casual sex' as a favoured holiday activity compared with a national average of just under one third.
A total of 64 per cent of young people from the West Midlands said casual sex featured highly on what they wanted on holiday, compared with 28 per cent nationally.
Furthermore, a Terrence Higgins Trust survey of people aged between 18 and 30 travelling from Birmingham International Airport found that just a quarter (27 per cent) of those questioned were carrying condoms.
As part of Sexual Health Week, last weekended, the Terrence Higgins Trust and Solihull Primary Care Trust handed out sexual health packs, including 15,000 condoms, to young holidaymakers at Terminal One at Birmingham International Airport.
Also among the packs, targeted at 18-30 year-olds, were alcohol unit calculator wheels and bottle tops to protect holiday drinkers from having their drink spiked.
Caroline Mason, Coventry services manager for Terrence Higgins Trust (Midlands) said: "There seems to be a big gap between the number of young people having casual sex on holiday and the number who go prepared with condoms. If holidaymakers are going to have sex, we want them to do it as safely as possible."
The number of people who are HIV positive is increasing by about 20 per cent a year in Birmingham and Solihull.
Paul Sheehan, sexual health and HIV coordinator for Solihull Primary Care Trust said: "This campaign plays a key part in the primary care trust's sexual health action plan and our joint teenage pregnancy action plan, developed with Solihull Council, to ensure that we work together to reduce the amount of sexually transmitted infections and teenage pregnancies."
