World Contraception Day is being observed today under the theme, ‘Take Responsibility’.  In recognition thereof, the Sunday Chronicle brings you the following related article published by the Marie Stopes International Media Centre. Marie Stopes International, Britain’s leading independent sexual and reproductive health provider, which services more than 100,000 clients across nine centres each year, is one of 10 global partners to World Contraception Day.

ONE IN four sexually active under-24-year-olds responding to a survey undertaken for World Contraception Day said they had not used contraception with a new partner.

Britain’s leading independent sexual and reproductive healthcare provider, Marie Stopes International, said the number of young people practicing unsafe sex was concerning and should send a clear message to Government that urgent action was needed to deliver comprehensive sex and relationships education to young people.

This year, the theme of World Contraception Day on 26 September is ‘Taking Responsibility for Contraception’, and while most respondents said that both partners were responsible for using contraception, many were still practising unsafe sex.

Personal hygiene was rated as the most important consideration – ahead of contraception – when preparing for a date that could lead to sex.

Confusion and a lack of information about contraception was apparent with almost half of all respondents to the survey undertaken for Bayer Healthcare, saying they were not very familiar with or were confused about the different types of contraception.

Tracey McNeill, Vice President, UK and Europe at Marie Stopes International, said the results highlighted the need for comprehensive and standardised sex and relationships education to be taught in all schools.

“We are calling on the Coalition government to put sex and relationships education back on the agenda and ensure that all schools, including faith schools, teach a standardised curriculum,” McNeill said, adding:

“This survey shows that more than half of the respondents had already had sex by their 18th birthday and the Government’s own data shows 83% are sexually active by the same age. This highlights that schools are the best way to deliver quality information to young people before they become sexually active.

“The research is clear, where sex and relationships education is taught in conjunction with contraceptive information and good access to youth friendly sexual health services, more young people delay having sex and more practice safe sex.”

In the UK, 25.5 births per 1000 are to teenage mothers, the highest in Europe, and five times higher than in a country like Holland, where sex and relationships education is taught to all students from a young age. Dutch women are on average a year older when they first have sex, and are more likely to use contraception compared to British girls.

“Access to quality and comprehensive sex and relationships education,” McNeill said, is one of the key interventions that will we see a reduction in unplanned pregnancies, abortions and STI transmission.

This study, she said, “also highlights a need for greater promotion of long-acting reversible contraception such as the implant or IUD to help significantly reduce the number of people who ‘forget’ to use contraception.

“Quality sex and relationships education is needed to equip young people with the tools to talk about safe sex with their partner, assert their position that if it is not on, it’s not on, and to also assert their desire to delay sex.”

One in five respondents who failed to use contraception said it was because they were “drunk and forgot.” This was the highest rate in Europe.

Of concern, some young British respondents who did not use contraception chose not to because their new partner preferred to not use protection. Marie Stopes International is concerned that this could indicate that some young people feel unable to assert to their partners their desire to protect themselves from pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections.

There was also a somewhat ‘head-in-the-sand’ approach to sexually transmitted infections, with one in three people saying that if their partner was thought to have an STI that it was up to their partner to seek a diagnosis and information – even though they themselves could be infected.

Points highlighted in the editor’s note:

· some respondents that did not use contraception said it was because their new partner preferred not to use protection
· 51% of male and female respondents were not very familiar with, or were confused about the different types of contraception, or didn’t know which method was best for them. Britons were among the least aware in Western Europe.
· Almost one in four young people believed the ‘withdrawal’ method was  an effective form of contraception.
World Contraception Day is an annual, multinational campaign. Launched in 2007, each year’s theme focuses on a different aspect of contraceptive needs. This year it is ‘Take Responsibility’.