Young people in Europe use condoms less frequently

Young people in Europe have used condoms much less frequently in recent years, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Switzerland, however, bucked the trend. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox The rate of unprotected sex is “worryingly high”, WHO Europe said on Thursday. This exposes young people to a “significant risk of sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies”. The data comes from a survey of 242,000 15-year-olds in 42 of the 53 countries in the WHO European Region, including Central Asia. According to the data, it shows that the proportion of sexually active boys who used a condom the last time they had sex fell from 70% in 2014 to 61% in 2022. For girls, the figure fell from 63% to 57%. + Fifty years of contraception Almost a third of young people stated that they had not used a condom or the pill the last time they had sex. This is roughly the same as in 2018. Use of the pill remained fairly stable in 2022 compared to 2014;