95% of young people feel that they need to receive information on safe sexual behaviour

Date: 21 June 2005

95% of young people feel that they need to receive information on safe sexual behaviour, according to the results of sociological research carried out by the Dutch non-governmental organisation AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW) and the FOCUS-MEDIA Foundation for Social Development and Health Care. The research was based on the results of five informational campaigns on safe sex, which were carried out between 1997 and 2005, and were presented today at a press conference in Moscow.

According to the results of the research, sexual behaviour over the last eight years has changed, becoming more responsible. Thus, 76% of young people currently feel that people who do not use a condom for sexual contact are acting irresponsibly towards their health. While in 1997 just 20% of respondents said that they always used condoms, by 2005 this figure had risen to 45%. In addition, 87% feel that condom use is essential for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, up from 39% in 1994, and 69% think it essential for the prevention of HIV transmission, up from 19% in 1997. The proportion of young people who do not believe in the reliability of condoms has fallen from 24% in 1997 to 4% in 2005. Moreover, 94% feel that using condoms is socially acceptable.

The level of awareness among young people about the routes of HIV transmission has also increased significantly, with 90% of respondents knowing the ways in which the virus is transmitted. However, 30% still believe that HIV can be passed on through coughing, sneezing or insect bites. Equally, many respondents underestimate the risks of contracting HIV through anal or oral sex, with only 75% and 58% respectively realising that these are risk activities.

Currently, informational campaigns in the mass media have become the principal way of getting information to young people about how they can protect themselves from HIV and sexually transmitted infections. That this information is necessary can be seen from the results of the research: 95% of those surveyed felt that they needed to receive more information on safe sexual behaviour, and 96% were positive about the idea of more informational campaigns on safe sex being carried out.

The findings of the research will be used in the planning and implementation of the mass media informational campaign on safe sex which will be launched in July 2005 in 10 Russian regions as part of the multi-faceted GLOBUS project, which is aimed at preventing HIV and is being implemented by a consortium of non-governmental organisations.

It should be remembered that the rate of the epidemic’s growth in Russia is currently the highest in Europe. According to the Senior Programme Advisor on Mass Media Campaigns at AFEW, Tatyana Grechukhina, ‘in order to efficiently counter the HIV epidemic, it is vital to unite the forces of state services, non-governmental organisations, and the business community. It is positive that state bodies have begun to pay more attention to this serious problem, but for the maximum effect, all of our efforts should be united towards the same ends.’

Contact person: Ekaterina Militskaya
AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW)
Tel: (495) 250 6377
E-mail: ekaterina_militskaya@afew.org