Valentine's Day was the first day of
National
Condom Week in the U.S. You can find out more
about condoms on this Planned
Parenthood page and watch the below instructional
video to learn the proper way to put one on.
Hormonal birth control methods can do
a great job of preventing pregnancy but they do nothing
to reduce the risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted
infection.
One in four sexually active teens have
an STI and up to 75% of sexually active men and women
will have one at some point. Women's sexual anatomy
makes them 10 to 20 times more likely than men to
become infected with sexually transmitted infections.
Yup, that's right, ten to twenty times! In
pregnant women, young girls and female teens the cervix
is even more vulnerable to infection.
A 1993 study showed that using condoms
every time prevented HIV transmission for 169 out
of 171 women who had male partners with HIV. Meanwhile
8 out of 10 women whose partners didn't use condoms
every time became infected. Latex condoms also help
reduce the risk of picking up a slew of other sexually
transmitted infections including gonorrhea, syphilis,
chlamydia, chancroid, trichomoniasis, HPV, herpes,
and pelvic inflammatory disease. Other advantages
of condoms are their price and availability.
Scarleteen's
Condom's Basics: A User's manual is a helpful
article whether you're just beginning to consider
becoming sexually active or looking for a refresher
and/or tips to improve your condom usage.
Let's face it, there are no good excuses
to be unsafe. As Planned Parenthood point out, it's
not a matter of trust. “People carry sexually
transmitted infections without knowing it.”
National
Condom Week
