A new report from the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe records a constant and worrying decline in condom use among young European adolescents. The data confirms low condom use (only 6 out of 10) with a constantly worsening trend over time (from 70% in 2014 to 61% in 2022) and is in line with what emerges every year from the Durex “Youth and Sexuality” Observatory, conducted on a sample of 15,000 young people between the ages of 11 and 24. In Italy, the situation is particularly negative. In 2023, in fact, less than 1 in 2 young people (43.4%) declared that they always use condoms, down 3% compared to 2022 and with a constantly worsening trend since 2019, when the figure stood at 57%.
“The data presented in the report published by the WHO are invaluable and confirm an alarming situation that every year, in Italy, we are committed to bringing to light through our Youth and Sexuality Observatory – says Laura Savarese, Director of Regulatory Affairs and External Relations at Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare, which markets the Durex brand in Italy – It is increasingly clear that all the forces involved, both public and private, in the political and scientific world and together with the companies active in this field, must commit themselves with strength and dedication to protecting the health of our young people in the sexual field, in particular through the increasingly structured and widespread dissemination of activities and programs of information and education on conscious sexuality, healthy relationships and fundamental concepts such as consent and respect that are at their basis”.
In this regard, “we welcome the WHO’s call for the importance of these interventions as a natural response to a reality that emerges so clearly from the data, but is still too often overlooked today,” adds Savarese.
Regarding the diffusion of sexual education programs, also starting from an important result that emerged from the Observatory according to which 94% of young Italians ask for emotional and sexual education at school, Durex – reports a note – has recently signed a collaboration agreement with the Municipality of Milan, for the first time in Italy in this field, which aims to guarantee increasingly widespread access to emotional and sexual education interventions for the city’s young students. The agreement, developed within the ‘A Luci Accese’ program, will lead Milan to be among the first cities in Italy to provide, from the 2024/2025 school year – starting in a few days – a proposal for emotional and sexual education courses in the city’s high schools.
“The WHO data confirm, once again, that the promotion of a correct culture of affection and sexuality among the youngest is today a theme that a pragmatic, concrete and up-to-date administration can no longer afford to ignore – comments Martina Riva, Councilor for Youth Policies of the Municipality of Milan – Thanks to the collaboration agreement with Reckitt, we have taken a significant step towards the standards already established at European and international level in this area”.
The initiative was born from the evidence that emerged from the Observatory as well as from the fact that Italy is among the only six countries in Europe that have not yet included affective and sexual education as a subject that is part of the school curriculum. The program is therefore developed with the aim of introducing affective and sexual education in schools throughout the city, aligning Milan with the rest of Europe and thus making it an example and inspiration for the rest of the country. At a national level – the note concludes – the hope is that all institutions will welcome what the data reported by the WHO tell, thus giving life to a new season of dialogue with all the parties involved, with the aim of listening to the requests of young Italians and providing them with the most correct and fair tools to inform and train themselves in the affective and sexual field.
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