|
KIM DICK
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Fewer Canadian teens are reporting having
sexual intercourse, according to a new study, with a decline that
seems to be greater among younger women.
In 2005, 43 per cent of teens aged 15 to
19 reported having intercourse at least once, compared to 47 per
cent in 1996-97, Statistics Canada released Wednesday.
The decline was due to young women, among
whom the proportion who reported having had sexual intercourse fell
from 51 per cent to 43 per cent. The proportion of young men who
had had intercourse remained unchanged at 43 per cent.
"This is exciting isn't it, to see some
kind of a decrease in those statistics," said Cathy Rafa Hern,
senior team leader of the Sexual Health Program. "To tell you if
I've personally seen that here, it's really hard to say that ...
we see such a diverse population and most of the people who come to
see us have already crossed that line."
Rafa Hern says the conclusions that were
drawn from the survey is inspiring to front-line sexual health
workers, but she also urged the battle is not over.
The province declared a syphilis outbreak
in 2007 with Health Minister Ron Liepert stating recently he would
not support a province-wide syphilis awareness campaign.
No more funding has been allocated to
Sexual Health Program in the region either.
"Awareness if our first step to
prevention," said Rafa Hern. "We have high numbers in Calgary and
in Edmonton of syphilis and we are starting, of course, to see that
spiral out into the rural areas as well."
As well, teens with disabilities, who
belong to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, or
who speak English as a second language, could be at high risk
without proper education.
"Again the marginalized groups are really
at risk because we have very much difficulty getting the
information to those populations," said Rafa Hern. "Access to
health-care is also an issue when you can't speak the
language."
In the Medicine Hat area, the lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender communities are underground, says
Rafa Hern.
"We keep trying to reach them, they can
always come to sexual health, it's always open," she said. "But,
you know in smaller communities, anonymity is a big, big
issue."
Educational initiatives have been targeted
in the region to include minority and marginalized populations and
the new Canadian community.
Rafa Hern says that no more funding has
been allocated the Sexual Health Program in the community.
But in good news, decline in young
woman's sexual behavior may be attributed to many things said Rafa
Hern. Pregnancy, risk of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI),
human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations, increased education and
generally women bearing a larger risk in having sexual
intercourse.
"We would be really hard-pressed to say
what one thing is triggering this decline," said Rafa Hern. " We
would like to think it's a combination of everything."
Perhaps what's most interesting on the
study for sexual health nurses is the decline in condom use among
older peers. The study states previous research has shown that
condom use tends to decrease with age.
Figures on condom use was more commonly
reported among younger teens, 81 per cent of sexually active teens
ages 15 to 17 reported using a condom the last time they had
intercourse.
This compares to 70 per cent of teens aged
18 and 19.
In fact, lack of regular contraception use
is a problem, particularly among older teens and young adults aged
20 to 29.
"It's very much a surprise to see that a
15 to 17-year-old would use a condom more regularly then somebody
in their 20s," said Rafa Hern.
Many factors can lead to this finding said
Rafa Hern — including more access to alcohol, drugs, wealth
and length of relationships.
"Very interesting," said Rafa Hern. "It is
a question we ask on intake through sexual health ... most often
people are pretty honest and they’ll say, 'I met to,' or
'occasionally' or 'I didn't think I needed to,'
"But say consistent condom use, we very
seldom see that."
Other studies released May 2007 showed a
significant decline in teen pregnancy and abortion rates, but in
our region, rates haven't decreased.
"No we are pretty consistent, we haven't
seen a drop," said Rafa Hern. "In fact, our teen live birth rates,
teens who've gave birth to babies, was 70 teens in 2005, 70 teens
in 2006 and 100 teens in 2007."
"So we saw a big jump."
Rafa Hern says people have to keep in mind
that teen pregnancy rates can be cyclical, and notably in the past,
the Medicine Hat/Brooks region ran at the 100 teen live birth rates
per year.
The study released by Statistics Canada
surveyed 4,500 respondents between ages 15 and 19 provided data for
the 1996-97 survey, compared to about 10.000 respondents for each
of 2003 and 2005 survey.
The Sexual Health Program is located in
the Community Health Services building on 2948 Dunmore Rd, open
Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- With files from the Canadian Press |
