Sex sells! This is not news. Sex is the topic of many TV talk shows, sitcoms, dramas, "reality" shows, soaps, and commercials. According to those beautiful people on TV, we should be having sex frequently and, if possible, with lots of different people. And no matter which shows you watch, not one of the beautiful people ever suffers disease or stigma or financial or personal hardship.

The indirect sex-sellers are TV programs. The Jerry Springer Show – which, if you can believe it, once actually had some helpful advice and solution-geared discussion – is now rife with cheaters and audience members who have nothing to say but want to flash their breasts (and other assets – or in some cases, liabilities) to get Springer Beads. Every lover of sitcoms knows what "sponge-worthy" means and can tell you whether or not they are "master of their domain." And who could keep track of which guy or girl the free-spirited sexual animal Samantha (from Sex and the City) was bedding? What could be more salacious than watching the vacuous eye candy cavort across Temptation Island with no goal but to seduce people in "committed" (ha!) relationships and get them to cheat on their partners.

But for the most memorable sex sellers you must look at advertising. We've all seen the commercials for products like Viagra: Joe strides confidently into the office and is asked by his puzzled colleagues whether he's had a haircut or been working out, and, similarly, at a party, Bob is asked whether he's had a haircut, lost weight, or is wearing a new jacket. Nope: both are just gettin' some.

In another Viagra commercial men run from their homes at dawn and dance in the streets to the tune of Queen's "We Are the Champions." Significantly, more men are running out of their houses in joy than women – though there is at least one woman who's been so energized by their sport that she is able to jump around with her husband on her shoulders.

And men aren't the only ones who are being targeted. Avlimil, a supplement for female sexual dysfunction, has a commercial that opens with an attractive young woman saying something to the effect of, "I used to think: sex life. Hmmm. That's got to fit somewhere after kids, work, cleaning, stress ." She takes Avlimil and gets her sex life back.

One must concede the amazing alchemy of Avlimil. This one supplement – which they advise us is not a prescription medication – has somehow managed to solve her problem, which, if I recall correctly, was that kids, work, housework, and stress left her with too little time and energy to have sex. I guess each pill comes with a nanny, personal assistant, maid, and masseuse.

What else is advertised on TV? Another favorite – admittedly, I saw this one during the Jerry Springer Show – is one for the Ashley Madison Agency. I needn't say more than the commercial says it's for people 21 and over, and they've trademarked the phrase, "When Monogamy Becomes Monotony."

And imagine the surprise I felt flipping through the hitherto family-friendly TV Guide and seeing – next to the page concerning children's programming – an ad with an underwear-clad young woman straddling a man wearing pajama bottoms, with the accompanying text: "The Modern Woman taking control of GENITAL HERPES." The room's beautiful modern furnishings, and what little they had on, were white – what could be more glamorous and pure?

But seriously, folks . At the same time that we are trying to make sure that no one is doing without and are giving 15 minutes of fame to people who are getting lots, we are also being bombarded by the media about the almost epidemic proportions of STDs and AIDS. Clearly, despite the exemplary woman from the ad in the TV Guide, most people aren't taking control of their STDs.

CDC statistics for 2001 show 783,242 new chlamydia cases, 361,705 new gonorrhea cases (remember, "the clap"?), and 31,575 new syphilis cases (yes, "the pox" is still with us!). (Moreover, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for November 21, 2003 shows that the syphilis rate in the US rose in 2002 for the second consecutive year, following a decade-long decline.) Mid-2003 figures for much-less-populous Canada show 27,621 chlamydia cases, 3,352 gonorrhea cases, and 362 syphilis cases.

So what? Well, if untreated, syphilis may lead to nerve damage, arterial wall damage, and mental disorientation, and, eventually, death. Gonorrhea, an often asymptomatic bacterial infection, can lead to infertility in females and urethral stricture and, ultimately kidney, failure in males. Similarly, chlamydia, another bacterial infection, is often asymptomatic, but infection can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility.

And how about human papillomavirus (HPV)? Spread by skin-to-skin contact, HPV cannot be entirely prevented by a condom, can be treated but not cured, and is linked to 99.7% of cervical cancer. It is now estimated to be the most common STD in the US, and recent studies in Canada estimate that its prevalence among women ranges from 20 to 33%.

The World Health Organization estimates that 333,000,000 new STDs occur every year worldwide. Year 2003 figures provided by UNAIDS (the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) estimate the number of adults and children living with AIDS in North America at 790,000 to 1.2 million, with 36,000 to 54,000 new cases for the year, and 12,000 to 18,000 deaths.

So in the face of these disheartening statistics on the growth of STDs, why are we buying into the sexual philosophy promoted by the media? Because it's a fantasy we want to buy into. But how much longer do we have before we all become victims of our own creation. The answer is clear: not very.