By Trudy Simpson, Staff ReporterMANY HIGH school students are putting themselves at risk for sexually-transmitted illnesses (STIs) including HIV/AIDS, despite having good knowledge of how to prevent infection, a recent survey is showing.
The study, conducted among students, aged 14 to 18, in 13 high schools in three parishes late last year and released two weeks ago, showed there is a wide gap between what students learn about safer sex and what they practise.
Although 71.4 per cent were taught about the reproductive system, STIs, HIV/AIDS and birth control, and 90 per cent identified the condom as a means of protection, data showed 40 per cent of students interviewed did not use a condom during their first sexual experience.
The age of first sex ranged between 6 years old and 17 years old, with most having first sex around age 14, researchers said.
"Males had an average number of four sexual partners with a range of one to 20 partners," outlined the survey. The findings were presented by medical students at the University of the West Indies (UWI), at the Caribbean College of Family Physicians' Second Pan Caribbean Conference, held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston, between September 25 and 28, 2003.
Novia Condell, a Behaviour Change Communication specialist in the Health Ministry, said the findings are similar to the Ministry's research, which showed that: Many youngsters are introduced quite early to sex, sometimes through molestation and incest; teenagers, like adults, are not 'internalising' prevention messages and they often do not see themselves at risk for infection.
Forty-six per cent of the students interviewed in the UWI study said they were embarrassed to ask for condoms al-though 89 per cent felt they should use a condom even if they knew their partners.
One in four participants were more concerned about pregnancy than STIs while 12 per cent were not concerned about either consequence. In addition, 22 per cent believed the withdrawal method, where the penis is pulled from the vagina just before ejaculation, is a valid form of contraception.
Convincing people to go from knowledge to practice is one of the challenges facing health officials, Ms. Condell said.
Pregnancy is more of a concern for teens because it is the more obvious consequence of unprotected sex, she said.
"With HIV, we do know that young people 15 to 19 are among those most affected but they do not see themselves at risk and so they won't test (for HIV) until they get sick in their 20s or 30s. They know the right answers but they are not internalising the messages," Ms. Condell noted.
Safer sex is also hampered because many adolescents, especially girls, are finding it difficult and embarrassing to access condoms despite youth-friendly services to make teen access to condoms, counselling and safer sex information easier, she said. Many may also lack the supportive family environment, high self-esteem, education, goals and religion which can prevent risk-taking behaviour, added Head of Health Promotion and Protection division, Dr. Deanna Ashley.
The 2000 National Know-ledge, Attitudes, Behaviour and Practice (KABP) study showed that nearly 57 per cent of boys, aged 15 to 19, had two or more sexual partners, the same as 24 per cent of girls.
