Survey shows rise in unprotected sex among youth, raises concern about sex education

"The number of young people having unprotected sex in the West has risen sharply over the past two years," according to a global survey conducted by the International Planned Parenthood Federation between April and May of this year, Agence France-Presse reports. The study was funded by Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, the news agency notes (9/26). The survey, titled "Clueless or Clued Up: Your right to be informed about contraception," prepared for World Contraception Day on September 26, "questioned more than 6,000 young people from 26 countries ... on their attitudes toward sex and contraception" and "reports that the number of young people having unsafe sex with a new partner increased by 111 percent in France, 39 percent in the USA and 19 percent in Britain in the last three years," Reuters notes (9/25).

"The survey ... found that the most common reason teens had for not using contraception was not having it in the first place, with one-third of teens reporting not having any form of contraception available at the time of intercourse," the Globe and Mail's "The Hot Button" blog reports (Mcginn, 9/26). "The level of unplanned pregnancies among young people is a major global issue, campaigners say, and the rise in unprotected sex in several counties has sparked concern about the quality of sex education available to youngsters," Reuters writes, adding, "In Europe, only half of respondents receive sex education from school, compared to three quarters across Latin America, Asia Pacific and the USA" (9/25).