Newswire : Talking about sex

1 November 1997

Sex education does not make young people promiscuous, a survey suggests. The
Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS surveyed sex education and behaviour in 10
countries, including Britain, the US, Mexico, Thailand and France. In all cases,
the programmes cut unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted
disease—countering the claim that frank sexual advice encourages young
people to have more sex. “Failing to provide appropriate information for young
people is not now an option,” says Peter Piot, the UN programme’s director.