Imagine that you are sixteen and recently had unprotected sex with your older boyfriend. You're worried you might be pregnant. You live a long walk from the local health clinic, but you finally find an excuse to slip away from your mother and make it to the clinic.

Luckily the nurse listens to you and doesn't chase you away because you're too young. The nurse gives you good information about different contraceptive choices and you leave having had a contraceptive injection.

Unfortunately, the nurse did not know about HIV and other sexually transmissible infections. So you leave without knowing whether or not you could have been exposed, or having any tests done to make sure you are OK.

This situation is not unique. It happens time and time again across the world.

Family Planning International has started work to raise awareness of the importance of linking work to prevent and treat HIV with work to improve peoples' sexual and reproductive health.

Check out our initial report from a conversation with organisations working in the Pacific on HIV:

Report on Sexual and Reproductive Health, HIV Integration, Knowledge Sharing Conversation (PDF file, 10 pgs, 300 KB)

Research shows that these links are cost effective and mean that people recieve better health care. There are no excuses as to why the international community is not making the links more actively.