- International health organization cautions about decreased condom usage among adolescents.
Based on information provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), young individuals in Europe are less likely to use condoms before engaging in sexual activities. This trend has seen a considerable decline in condom usage among sexually active adolescents since 2014, while the number of unprotected encounters has risen alarmingly. This situation puts these young persons at risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies, as WHO cautions.
The report, which falls under a larger health study involving youth, surveyed about 40,000 15-year-olds from 42 European countries, Central Asian regions, and Canada every four years from 2014 to 2022, inquiring about their sexual health. One result revealed that a notable number of sexually active respondents had unprotected sex. The percentage of boys who utilized a condom during their last sexual encounter fell from 70% in 2014 to 61% in 2022, and from 63% to 57% among girls. Around 30% of respondents did not use either a condom or the pill during their last sexual encounter.
German youth are average when it comes to condom usage, with 59% of sexually active boys and 58% of girls reporting condom use in 2022, which has dropped from 72% and 68% respectively in 2014. In contrast, Germany appears to have higher usage of the pill: Only 16% of girls and 23% of boys did not use either the pill or a condom, with Austria and Switzerland being the only countries that fared better.
According to WHO, the data reveals substantial deficiencies in age-appropriate education and contraceptive access. WHO regional director Hans Kluge finds the results both shocking and unsurprising, as many countries neglect age-appropriate sex education, and where it exists, it is often subject to unfair criticism for allegedly promoting sexual behavior.
Lead author of the report, András Költő from Galway University, emphasizes that comprehensive sex education is essential to empower all young individuals to make informed decisions about sex during this sensitive period of their lives – the transition from youth to adulthood. Young people require not just information but also safe spaces to discuss topics such as consent, intimate relationships, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
The lack of age-appropriate health and safety education and adequate contraceptive access, as highlighted by WHO, contributes to the rising number of unprotected sexual encounters among young Europeans. TheWHO regional director, Hans Kluge, urges the implementation of comprehensive sex education programs that provide safe spaces for discussions on consent, sexual health, and gender identity to promote informed decision-making.
