FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: |
CONTACT:
|
Bill
Barker |
|
Friday, February 18, 2000 |
|
(202) 419-3420 |
Advocates
for Youth to Sponsor Third Annual Study Tour of European
Approach to Adolescent Sexuality
Recent Tour Found Sexuality
Information Widely Available to European Teens
WASHINGTON, DC (February 18, 2000) Citing the fact that teen
birth, teen abortion and sexually transmitted disease rates in the United
States
are the highest among industrialized nations, Advocates for
Youth and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte today announced
plans for
the third annual European Study Tour.
Advocates
for Youth's President, James Wagoner, calls on U.S. policy
makers to learn a lesson from Europe. "Despite the recent decline
in U.S. teen pregnancy rates, the U.S. has 13 times the teen
birth rate of the Netherlands, 25 times the gonorrhea rate
of Germany, three times
the teen abortion rate of France, and U.S. teens begin having
sex earlier than European teens. Clearly, Europe is doing
something right," he
concluded.
The annual study tour found the rates
in those European countries to be drastically lower than in the
U.S., because of a practical and healthy attitude about
sex. Unlike in the U.S., sexuality information is widely available
to young people
in those countries.
"
Ignorance is nobody's ally in the era of AIDS. What we
have to realize in the U.S. is that denying young people critical information
about contraception is not only naïve and short-sighted, but irresponsible
and dangerous," said Wagoner.
The upcoming European Study Tour,
to be held in May of 2000, will comprise 40 health professionals,
policy makers and educators from throughout
the U.S. The tour will continue to work to identify strategies,
programs and policies in the Netherlands, France and Germany
that influence adolescent
sexual behavior and outcomes.
Advocates for Youth is an international,
nonprofit organization that creates programs and supports
policies that help young people make safe,
responsible decisions about their sexual and reproductive
health.
###
Note
to Editors and Producers: For more information or to set
up an interview with adolescent sexuality experts, please contact
Bill Barker at (202) 419-3420.
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