–GRPA study finds

OUT of 392 adolescents and youths surveyed from eight regions across Guyana, 42 per cent were recorded as sexually active when the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA) revealed the results of its survey on adolescent and youth sexual trends in Guyana.

In presenting the findings, Research Consultant Sherlina Nageer highlighted that the hinterland regions showed a higher prevalence of youths engaging in sexual activities than the youths who reside in coastland regions.

Because the survey was a miniature one, the GRPA was not able to capture a significant amount of youths across the country. However, with the amount quantified, the survey was able to point out the areas where there was a preponderance of young individuals engaging in sexual activities.

Nageer said, “As seen, because of the different lifestyles on the coastland and the hinterland, the youths within the latter areas tend to engage in most of those activities.” However, she said that most of those sexually active youths do not attend school.

The survey showed that hinterland youths tend to drop out of school at an earlier age than coastland youths, and are not properly guided in regard to right and wrong in terms of being sexually active.

Moreover, hinterland youths lack the basic knowledge why they should use protection devices in engaging in sex.

Nageer revealed that more than 50 per cent of sexually active hinterland youths were engaging in unprotected sex, and were unaware of what were contraceptives and other protective devices.
This situation, she point out, has been in existence for quite a while, and needs to be addressed immediately, because if the younger ones are not aware of the risks associated with having unprotected sex, the situation could have unwelcome national consequences in the future.

Nageer called on the Ministry of Public Health to look into this situation, and proposes that the GRPA could work alongside the Public Health Ministry to do a more broad-based survey to discover what other areas of public health concern need addressing.

Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton, in remarks disclosed that the Ministry lauds the survey, given that it exposes a number of issues that need to be addressed.
Dr Norton mentioned that solutions to the problems already exist, but it called for a matter of implementation, for which he intended to approach the Minister of Education to devise a combined effort in tackling teenage pregnancy as well as underage youths engaging in sexual activities.