Need for Health Services for STIs among Adolescents

Attempts to promote the sexual health of young people have so far tended to focus on prevention, education and counselling, while the provision of services to those who have already faced the consequences of unprotected sexual activity, including pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), or sexual violence, has lagged behind.

This paper reflects the STI risk in adolescents, the profile of adolescents in need of STI care, types and evidence of success of different STI service delivery models for adolescents and the advantages and disadvantages of each of these, and to what extent a youth-specific approach to STI services. Worldwide, two-thirds of all STIs occur in young people — teenagers and those in their early twenties (WHO 1993, WHO 1995). STI services to these age groups should therefore be high on the agenda of STI programme planners and adolescent/young people’s health programmers.

Reference:

Dehne, K. L., & Riedner, G. (2001). Sexually transmitted infections among adolescents: the need for adequate health services. Reproductive Health Matters, 9(17), 170-183.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0968808001900217