On World Contraception Day, which was celebrated yesterday, September 26, it is time to look at sexual protection – and not just pregnancy – and STIs. Portuguese Society calls for urgent screening for these diseases
More pill, less condom use. An indicator that should serve as an alert with regard to Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). “We still don’t have an organized screening of STIs, which is very important so that it can serve as pressure and for doctors themselves to have access to this information”, says Fátima Palma, president of the Portuguese Society of Contraception (SPDC).
“There is fear of pregnancy, but condoms are neglected. Condoms and non-use are still confused with being in love, rather than being seen as a means of protection,” she adds. “The ideal was to use both”, asks the SPDC president.
According to the study Young people and Sexual Education: Knowledge, Sources and Resources, condom use at the first sexual intercourse is lower today than in 2008. If in that year, 97% of the surveyed boys used condoms at their first sexual intercourse, to prevent an unwanted pregnancy, the number has dropped to 88% in 2021.
A portrait presented in April by the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon together with the Association for Family Planning and the Lusíada Center for Research in Social Work and Social Research, and which indicated that almost three out of ten boys (27 %) had poor knowledge about contraceptives and STIs.
Read more in Delas
