The condom has now caught up with the pill as women’s preferred method of contraception, latest figures suggest.
A quarter of the 1,093 women under 50 surveyed opted for condoms, which is identical to the proportion who plumped for the oral contraceptive pill.
Experts said the Office for National Statistics figures were good news since condoms prevent sexually transmitted infections as well as pregnancy.
Almost half of the condom users cited STIs as their motive for using them.
And half of the 2,557 people surveyed in England, Scotland and Wales said TV programmes and adverts had been their main source of information about STIs.
Sexual behaviour
However, more than half the men interviewed who said they were not in a long-term exclusive relationship, but had had a sexual relationship in the last year, said information on HIV and other sexually transmitted infections had no effect on their behaviour.
The majority of women under 50 (75%) were using contraception, with younger women preferring the pill or male condom, and older women often relying on sterilisation or their partner’s vasectomy.
Almost all of the women surveyed said they had heard of the emergency contraception pill, or “morning after pill”.
People should be aware of the rising rates of STIs when making a decision about contraception – ditching the condoms could leave you and potentially your partner at risk
Victoria Sheard of the Terrence Higgins Trust
But awareness of the emergency intrauterine device (IUD), which can be inserted up to five days after intercourse, had fallen from 49% eight years ago to 40%.
Natika Halil of the Family Planning Association said: “It is encouraging to see that access to information about contraception and contraceptive services is improving.
“Whilst women are using very safe and reliable methods of contraception such as the condom and the pill, there are 15 methods of contraception available.
“Women should be able to access all of them in equal measure.”
Victoria Sheard of the Terrence Higgins Trust said: “An increase in condom use is very good news as they offer double protection – against sexually transmitted infections as well as unwanted pregnancy.
“People should be aware of the rising rates of STIs when making a decision about contraception – ditching the condoms could leave you and potentially your partner at risk.”
Meanwhile, the NHS Information Centre has found the number of people using NHS community contraception clinics rose by 7% to 1.3 million in the year to March 2009.
The biggest rise was among men with 13%, or 17,000, more attending in 2008/09 compared to the previous year, bringing the total to 140,000 – approximately one in 10 of all those attending.
[BBC]
4 a second there I thot the sample was taken in Zambia I was going to dispute, we still prefare the pill here. U cant feel the punani with a condom
Maybe some scientists develop AIDS on purpose. This misery disease usually affects African countries than other continents. Producing customs is a business just like any other business so whichever company produces customs and arvs, they should have an idea as to how this disease came to existence. Maybe I think too much but i think they were looking at a long term business.
Condoms are better than oral contraceptives coz they have side effects which vary from one woman to another.
why tell us about such a survey when it has nothing to do with Zed
#3 Bang on. These guys are simply dull. How do you get a sample from somewhere else and use it on your population?
# 1 if you are married and have kids its okey to use pill otherwise if you are not lucky your kids will be affected. Its better to first have health kids and then go on a pill.
LT how can you youe let whatever number one’s name is post such a comment. So crass and foul you might as well let him use the C word. I wonder who actually screens these comments.
Thse finding are for England and cannot be used to the local condition. We need some serious issues not masese. Proper stastics on local conditions can be easily be obtained from NAC, Society for Family, Health etc. What is effecting our women folk i cervical cancer or breast cancer. Sha wake up and away with such uncoorodinated findings
Hey En # 6 guess u know what punani means…….u and i can get along real fine, our minds think the same
LT do a bit of info gathering on local scene. Information is available the problem is its dissemination & that is your business. For example; I was impressed with a story in one of the dailies on malaria research going on at Macha hospital in Choma rural.
# 1 – grow up.
LT – this survey doesn’t make sense. people take the pill to prevent conception and people in zambia take the condom to save their lives. the two objectives are poles apart. find something else to fill the pages.
What do you expect with this HIV/AIDS pandemic????
Hi Bloggers,
This research was done in England and LT has failed to relate the findings to the Zedian situation. Now the sad news is this: The female condom is very unpopular in Zed and in some locations not even known. There are, even among the most educated women, huge segments who prefer their male partners to use the condom rather than them. More worrying is the fact that in most cases, its the males who dictate whether or not to use a condom. Even for those women that carry the female condom, its not up to them to decide to use it. Remember for women in Zed, to find a man is tough. Many ladies would rather risk their lives than lose their hard found man.