GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization's European office on Thursday denounced a decline in condom use among adolescents in recent years, warning of risks of infection and unplanned pregnancies in countries from Canada to Central Asia.
The findings are published in WHO Europe's latest report on health behaviours in school-age children and come from a survey of around 250,000 15-year-olds in 42 countries conducted between 2014 and 2022.
“While results vary widely across countries and regions, the most important trend observed since the 2014 (Survey on Health Behaviour of School-Age Children) is the decline in condom use among sexually active 15-year-olds in some countries and regions,” Dr Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, said in the report's foreword.
He said the findings, which also looked at contraceptive use, were “disappointing” but “not surprising” given the low priority given to sex education in many countries. The WHO and the authors urged policymakers to do more to improve the situation.
Even in countries where “age-appropriate” sex education is offered, it has “come under increasing attack in recent years on the false assumption that it encourages sexual behaviour”, Kluj added.
Among sexually active teens surveyed, the percentage of boys who said they used a condom the last time they had sex dropped from 70% in 2014 to 61% in 2022. Among female respondents, that figure fell from 63% to 57% over the same period.
Overall, the proportion of teens who report having had sexual intercourse has remained “relatively stable” since 2014, with one in five 15-year-old boys and 15% of 15-year-old girls reporting having had sexual intercourse. The figure for boys is down slightly from 2018, when one in four reported having had sexual intercourse.
Other findings showed that teens from poor, or “low-income” families were more likely to report not using condoms — one in three compared with one in four teens from wealthier families, said WHO Europe, which is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The report found that condom use among girls was lowest in Albania (24%) and highest in Serbia (81%). Among boys, the lowest rate was in Sweden (43%) and highest in Switzerland (77%).
