Facts about condoms

Facts about condoms

Facts and proven practices should prevail over outdated attitudes and unfounded fears in a long overdue plan to install condom vending machines in schools.

Even though the Public Health Ministry has recommended for several years that condom vending machines be installed in schools to curb teenage pregnancy, the idea has not been implemented because some educators, parents and even students themselves oppose it.

It’s time to get past the debate and do the right thing. Condom dispensing machines can provide access to safe sex, reduce sexually transmitted diseases and rein in unwanted pregnancy. Vending machines are an easier, less embarrassing option for teenagers too shy to buy condoms at shops. They should be made available, not just in schools but in other public places as well.

The latest debate over condom dispensing machines occurred at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA). Deputy Bangkok Governor Pusadee Tamtai on Wednesday proposed that a plan to set up condom vending machines in city-run schools be brought back to lower the rate of Aids infection in the capital.

City Hall started to place condom vending machines in Bangkok schools under its supervision in 2012. But it was forced to remove them following complaints from parents who believed the existence of condom machines provoked unnecessary sexual interest among students.

Ms Pusadee’s proposal to relaunch the machines ran into the same opposition from the public health division of the city administration itself. The reason for the objection remains the same: Many parents and teachers disagreed with the proposal for fear it would encourage students to have sex at an early age.

That fear should be obliterated by statistics cited by Ms Pusadee to support her proposal. Figures from the city administration revealed that more than half of patients infected with Aids last year were younger than 25. What is more, the figures found that a rise in Aids infections had resulted from a lack of condom use. In other words, there were no condom machines, and kids were still having sex — and bearing the consequences.

Aids is just one reason for urgently making birth control available to youths.

It is now well known that Thailand’s teenage pregnancy rate is among the highest in Southeast Asia. A report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) last year found that while the overall birth rate in Thailand is decreasing, pregnancy among women under the age of 20 is increasing.

Of about 800,000 births in 2012, up to 16% of mothers were between 15-19, which accounts for about 5% of the population of that age group, up from around 3% in 2000.

Furthermore, figures for 2012 show that 15,440 adolescents aged 15-19 had repeat pregnancies. As many as 880 adolescent mothers gave birth for a third time. Alarmingly, 3,725 girls were pregnant before reaching the age of 15, UNFPA reported.

People who oppose condom dispensing machines in schools often argue that sex education and safe sex campaigns would work better in reducing sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancies. Indeed, they may. But it begs the question whether the problems have become this critical because of a failure of both measures.

At this point, the country can no longer pick and choose or wait for its sex education and safe sex campaigns to be improved. It needs to implement multifaceted corrective measures to prevent the problems from worsening.

Sexuality is indeed a sensitive issue. That is why it is best for parents and regulators to rely on facts instead of fear or cultural bias.

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