HALF OF YOUNG AMERICANS TO GET SEX DISEASES



D

Dr. Jai Maharaj

Guest
Forwarded message from "G.Subramaniam" <[email protected]>

[ From: "G.Subramaniam" <[email protected]>

[ Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 18:02:20 -0500

U.S. National - Reuters

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent Tue Feb 24, 2004 2:53 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Half of all young Americans will

perhaps because they are ignorant about protection or embarrassed to ask for it, according to
several reports issued on Tuesday.

health groups, said there were 9 million new cases of STD among teens and young adults aged 15 to
24 in 2000.

They said the U.S. government's policy of preferring abstinence-only education would only increase
those rates.

"For the 27 million young Americans under the age of 25

only about abstinence," James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, said in a statement.

"Given the prevalence of STDs, young people need all the facts -- including medically accurate
information on condoms."

The reports, released jointly by Advocates for Youth -- a

together information from several different publications.

They include a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) report in the latest
issue of the

and a University of North Carolina report based on interviews with teens and young adults.

"Approximately 18.9 million new cases of STD occurred in 2000, of which 9.1 million (48 percent)
were among persons aged 15 to 24," the CDC report reads.

It said three diseases -- human papillomavirus or genital wart virus, a parasitic infection called
trichomoniasis and chlamydia -- accounted for 88 percent of all new cases of STDs in 15- to 24-year-
olds. Wart virus is the major cause of cervical cancer while chlamydia can cause infertility.

POTENTIAL CAUSES

The CDC report did not comment on potential causes, but the Guttmacher Institute did.

"It is not surprising that teens and young adults contract a disproportionate number of
infections," said

active, and many are ill equipped to prevent STDs or seek testing and treatment."

condoms is vital to preventing STDs.

to prevent STDs, some adolescents and virtually all young

teaches them how to prevent STDs and unwanted pregnancies. It is essential to have medically
accurate information about condoms and other contraceptive methods, and guidance on how to access
appropriate prevention, testing and treatment services."

rates of any age group in the country, and the United States has the highest STD rate of any
industrialized country, according to CDC and World Health Organization (news - web sites) figures.

The University of North Carolina report attacked federal policies that encourage abstinence-only
education.

"Abstinence is, of course, the only 100 percent effective prevention strategy," Shawn Carney, a 17-year-
old member of the UNC youth panel, said in a statement.

age of 18, we need to hear about more than abstinence. We

later in life."

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=4428155

End of forwarded message from "G.Subramaniam" <[email protected]>

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