World Health Organization
Lack of Contraception/Safe Sex Practices
A lack of safe sex practices is a result of limited health education in many countries. The lack of contraceptives, such as condoms or birth control pills, can cause unplanned pregnancies and has increased the spread of disease. Many countries do not have widespread or effective health education. Even countries that have sex education do not have enough funding or say it isn’t mandatory to participate in sex education. This lack of safe sex has led to the spread of diseases, such as AIDs and Gonorrhea. STIs like these have led to deaths all over the world. More than 25 million people have died from AIDs since 1981. Also, more than half of all people will have an STI in their lifetime. Many people are not screened for STIs which means many people do not know they have a sexually transmitted infection.
Abandonment of children from unplanned pregnancies is also a widespread problem stemming from a lack of safe sex. Especially in an economic depression, rates of child abandonment can rise. There is a growing problem with abandonment of children. Efforts to stop child abandonment, such as programs and laws, have had limited funding and publicity therefore, not effectively solving the problem. In America, 564,765 children suffered from neglect as well as many cases that remained unreported. In order to tackle the growing problem, the United States implemented a law stating that parents, who abandoned their children at hospitals, would not have to identify themselves. Yet, the problem still persists due to lack of limited publicity and media attention. A lack of contraception and safe sex practices has a detrimental effect on the world as a whole including increased child abandonment and a spread of disease.