“I don’t feel anything”, “it distresses you”, “it’s tight”, “It ruins the mood”, “I’m allergic to latex.”, “Who do you take me for?” »… Public Health France (SPF) has identified the “Twelve worst excuses against condoms” on his site OnSEXprime, dedicated to youth sexuality. On our list, certainly subjective, is: ” I love you. “ “What is the connection?”, SPF responds. STIs don’t want to know if you love your partner or not. They don’t do sentimental things. They circulate. »
The very serious National Public Health Agency has let him go. It must be said that the stakes are high, as young people represent one of the populations most at risk of transmitting sexually transmitted infections (STIs), as well as immigrants and men who have sex with men.
Have those under 30 become reluctant to put on the hood, when previous generations were terrified of AIDS? Are you starting to get angry about this? “small, simple, effective and economical object”under the terms of the SPF?
“Rather we can speak of a slight erosion of condom use at the moment of entry into sexuality”, slices Caroline Moreau, epidemiologist at the National Institute for Medical and Health Research (Inserm). She is one of the scientific leaders of the large national survey “Context of sexualities in France” (CSF 2023, carried out by Inserm and ANRS-Infectious Diseases), the result of five years of work, whose fourth edition was announced on Wednesday the 13th. November.
Although it increased in the 1980s and 1990s, condom use during first sexual intercourse decreased between 2019 and 2023, reaching 75.2% among women and 84.5% among men. “This corresponds to the Covid years.says Caroline Moreau. The sample is, therefore, smaller, because fewer young people began their sexual life during this period, but it is a warning sign that will have to be confirmed in the coming years. »
The decrease in the average age of first sexual intercourse (18.2 years for women and 17.7 years for men in 2023; compared to 17.6 for girls and 17.2 for boys in 2006) does not mean that we protect ourselves more. “The recent decline in prevention at first sexual intercourse, which could contribute to the increase in STI rates reported since the early 2000s, calls into question current prevention policies”underline the first conclusions of the MCA 2023 survey.
You have 76.14% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
