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Study suggests sex education poor in Japan
December 15, 2004
The revelation that 11.4 percent of high school students who have had sexual
intercourse do not know they have been infected with chlamydia has highlighted
the need to review sex education.
Hirohisa Imai, an assistant professor at Asahikawa Medical College, presented
the results of a survey at a meeting of the Japanese Association for Infectious
Diseases last week, calling attention to the increasing danger young people
face from sexually transmitted diseases.
"The situation is very serious. We shouldn't leave the matter uncorrected," he
said.
Imai and his team surveyed about 3,200 high school students. According to the
research, 47.3 percent of the girls and 35.8 percent of the boys surveyed said
they had had sexual experiences. Excluding those who were receiving treatment
for STDs, 13.9 percent of the girls and 7.3 percent of the boys had contracted
STDs.
About 70 percent of STD sufferers are believed to be infected with diseases
that do not exhibit physical symptoms.
Chlamydia is treatable, but those who are unaware that they have the disease
can spread the infection, which can cause sterility, miscarriages and premature
labor if left untreated.
Specialists fear that the increasing infection rate for the STD will make its
victims more susceptible to HIV as it damages the mucosa of genital organs.
"We can't avoid the increasing rate of HIV infections unless we look to limit
the transmission of chlamydia and other sexually transmitted diseases," said
Yoshiaki Kumamoto, honorary head of the Japanese Foundation for Sexual Health
Medicine and honorary professor of Sapporo Medical University.
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