In the face of an “alarming increase” in chlamydia and other sexually transmitted infections among Island County youths, condoms will be made available beginning next week at a teen drop-in center in Langely.

“It’s just logical that distributing condoms and giving kids information is the way to go,” said Duane Gimbel, executive director of South Whidbey Youth Connection, a nonprofit agency serving the community’s young people.

Gimbel said the condoms will be available at the Hub, a drop-in center for middle school- and high school-age students run by the South Whidbey Youth Connection in the basement of Langley United Methodist Church at Third and Anthes.

Before the condoms are made available, however, there will be a presentation at the Hub for young people concerning safe sexual practices, conducted by Planned Parenthood, Gimbel said.

The presentation will be from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 11.

“Our goal is to provide medically accurate, age-appropriate sex education for youths to make healthy decisions,” said Courtney Bell, Planned Parenthood community organizer for Snohomish and Island counties.

In a recent letter to Island County health providers, Dr. Roger Case, county public health officer, said the rate of chlamydia has been steadily increasing in the county during the past 11 years.

He said the rate of the infection has gone from 62.6 cases per 100,000 residents in 1997 to 959.3 per 100,000 in 2007. That’s nearly a 15-fold increase.

Case said that in 2007, Island County ranked 10th among the state’s 39 counties in reported chlamydia cases, ahead of Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom counties.

He said that in 2007, the highest rate of infection was in the 20- to 24-year-old age group at 1,832.8 per 100,000. The second-highest group was 15- to 19-year-olds, 959.3 per 100,000.

Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, Case said. Estimates indicate approximately three million new cases develop each year, only a fraction of which are reported. Many cases often display no symptoms.

Screening, treatment and follow-up have been proven to “significantly reduce” the prevalence of the infection, Case said. Testing via urine sample is widely available and is often preferred by patients, he said.

Case said he supports all efforts to promote safe sexual practices among young people, and he endorses the idea of combining condoms with safe-sex education.

“Kids shouldn’t be able to walk in and grab the condoms and go,” he said. “They need to have a short discussion with someone.”

“If young people are going to engage in sex,” he added, “we should make sure it’s safe sex.”

Gimbel said the condoms will be discreetly stored at the Hub, but that youths won’t be required to ask for them.

“Thinking back when we were youths,” he said, “if we were to have to ask adults for condoms, we probably wouldn’t have.”

Gimbel, 58, has been in social services since 1974, and has been at South Whidbey Youth Connection for the past two and a half years.

Prior to that, he was director of the Stanwood-Camano Resource Center, and he helped start the national free information helpline 211 program.

Gimbel said he sent out letters about the condom distribution to parents in the community. He said an average of more than

40 students per day use the Hub as an after-school drop-in center from 2 to 5:30 p.m.

The program provides a variety of drug-free, alcohol-free and violence-free activities, he said.

“There is an alarming increase in sexually transmitted infections among young people in our community.” said the Rev. David Vergin of the Langley United Methodist Church, where the Hub is located. “Unfortunately, abstinence-only programs have failed to reverse this trend.”

“We care about the youths of this community,” he added. “So we understand this effort by the South Whidbey Youth Connection to protect the health of our young people.”

Gimbel said the condom program jibes with his agency’s mission.

“We’re all about helping kids make healthy choices,” he said. “Healthy choices about sex fit into everything else we’re doing.”

For more information about South Whidbey Youth Connection, call 221-4142 or e-mail duane@swyouth.com.

For information about sexually-transmitted diseases, call Island County Public Health at 221-8482 or 360-678-7350.