Jamaica for the first time last week joined the rest of the world in observing World Contraception Day under the theme: 'Live Your Life Before You Start Another'.

Local organisers of the event, the National Family Planning Board and Bayer Schering Pharma, said Jamaica's participation in the event was to increase awareness and education of contraception and reproductive health.

Hugh Carroll of Bayer Schering Pharma said the campaign aims to address the high unmet need to reduce the level of unintended pregnancy.

He was participating in function at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston to mark the day.

He also disclosed that worldwide, of the approximately 210 million pregnancies occurring each year, an estimated 38 per cent are unplanned and 22 per cent of these end in abortion.

He said in developed countries specifically, of the 28 million pregnancies occurring every year, an estimated 49 per cent are unplanned and 36 per cent end in abortion.

Meanwhile, the latest reproductive health survey, produced by the National Family Planning Board in 2002, said that 53 per cent of all women were using a contraceptive method with their partners. This is an increase from 50.3 per cent of women in 1997's survey.

Sexual activity

Significantly too, the percentage of men using contraception with their last sexual partners had increased from 68.1 per cent in 1993, 79.6 per cent in 1997 and 85.3 per cent in 2002.

But the age of first sexual activity fell from 13.9 years in 1993 to 13.5 years in 2002 for boys and 15.9 years for girls in 1993 to 15.8 in 2002.

The survey also showed concerns that much more attention needed to be directed at contraceptive use among youth.

Yesterday, the organisers also unveiled the 2007 advertising campaign. The campaign encourages the target audience to consider the choices available to them by depicting images of a baby monitor and a mobile phone, representing life with and without children.