Survey revealed about condoms & pills

MUMBAI: If you believe that today's youngsters are well-informed & don't need sex education, consider this: More than 40% of unmarried women (age 15 to 24) in Maharashtra don't know about condoms & 72% are clueless about emergency contraceptive online pharmacy, a survey has found. On an average, 30% of unmarried Indian women don't know about condoms, the survey revealed.

While the lack of awareness may not 've been a concern two decades ago, it spells trouble considering past studies 've established that Indians are becoming sexually active at a younger age.

The survey - the third District Level Household Survey (DLHS) - was commissioned by the Union Health Ministry to assess the current state of reproductive, maternal & child health across the country.



In Maharashtra, more than 37,600 households were surveyed between May & October 2008. Researchers found that while more than 75% of women (married & unmarried) in the state knew about HIV/AIDS, nearly 73% women had not even heard of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Mumbai women were as ignorant - 70% of them had not heard of STIs & barely 37% knew that consistent use of condoms could protect one against HIV. Worse, 18.7% of married women in the state had symptoms of the infections. And, awareness levels were higher at the time of the second DLHS in 2002-04 when only 62.5% women had not heard of STIs.