A decline in condom use is putting young people’s health at risk, the World Health Organisation has warned.
The WHO surveyed respondents across 42 countries between 2014 and 2022.
It found that condom use among sexually active adolescents declined heavily, putting them at significant risk of sexually transmitted infections, unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions.
Out of a quarter-of-a-million 15-year-olds surveyed, nearly a third of them did not use a condom or the contraceptive pill.
Although sexual activity rates remained relatively stable, the proportion who used a condom when they last had intercourse fell from 70 per cent to 61 percent among boys, and 63 to 57 percent among girls.