This places younger individuals at better threat of sexually transmitted infections, unsafe abortions and undesirable pregnancies.
The new knowledge was printed as a part of the multi-part paper Study on healthy behavior in school-age childrenwhich surveyed over 242,000 15-year-olds in 42 nations throughout Europe, Central Asia and Canada from 2014 to 2022.
‘Pervasive’ decline in condom use
The UN well being company mentioned the info confirmed that “It is evident that the decline in condom use is pervasive and impacts a number of nations and areas.”.
Overall, the proportion of sexually energetic adolescents who used a condom at their final sexual activity dropped from 70 to 61 % amongst boys and from 63 to 57 % amongst ladies between 2014 and 2022.
Additionally, almost a 3rd of adolescents reported not utilizing a condom or contraception capsules throughout their final sexual activity.
Socioeconomic variations additionally come into play within the report: adolescents from low-income households usually tend to report not having used a condom or contraception capsule as their final sexual activity than these from wealthier households.
Sex training ‘beneath assault’
One of the explanations for such a shift in unprotected intercourse is the reluctance in lots of nations to supply intercourse training in colleges, WHO maintained.
“Comprehensive and age-appropriate sexuality training stays uncared for in lots of nations and, the place it’s obtainable, has come beneath rising assault lately on the false premise that it encourages sexual habitswhen the reality is that equipping younger individuals with the fitting information on the proper time results in optimum well being outcomes linked to accountable behaviors and selections”, he noticed Dr Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
He highlighted the cascade of adverse penalties that come up from such behaviors, from elevated well being prices to the disruption of younger individuals’s instructional {and professional} paths.
“By empowering teenagers to make knowledgeable selections about their sexual well being, we in the end shield and enhance their total well-being. This is what all mother and father and households ought to need for his or her kids, in all places,” she concluded.
