Summary
Wales has some of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the UK and levels of sexually transmitted infections are continuing to grow year on year. As World Aids Day on Wednesday approaches, Health Wales Editor Madeleine Brindley examines some of the myths and misunderstandings surrounding sex that are still present in today's society and may be putting our health at risk
IT HAS been more than 20 years since HIV and Aids emerged and claimed its first victim in the UK - South Wales-born Terrence Higgins. The advent of HIV and Aids was accompanied by numerous safe sex messages, which are repeated year on year, and yet, every day people throughout Wales are playing Russian roulette with their sexual health.See the full content of this document
Extract
Young and No-so-Young Taking Risks with Sexual Health
Young people today are starting to have sex much earlier than in previous generations; they have more sexual partners, and as the rise in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and the continuing high rates of teenage pregnancy prove, young people are still not heeding the safe sex massages.
Although teen pregnancies have fallen by 20% since they reached a peak in Wales in 1998, they are still 7% higher than in England. And the number of people receiving treatment for chlamydia infections in Wales has risen by 9% in the space of a year, mirroring the overall trend in the UK.Figures from the Heal...See the full content of this document
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