World Contraception Day: A Global Mission To Practising Safe Sex

This Sunday marks World Contraception Day, a mission to raise awareness around the globe about contraception and safe sex.

Taking place on September 26th every year, this annual worldwide campaign focuses on the vision where each pregnancy is wanted. This event moves into its 14th year of enabling young people to make educated choices on their sexual health and improving awareness of contraceptive options after launching in 2007.

Numbers show that the COVID-19 has negatively impacted the wellbeing of women and girls worldwide in multiple ways including, sexual and reproductive healthcare and gender violence. International contraception service organisation, MSI Reproductive Choices, expects 900,000 unintended pregnancies worldwide as a result of the pandemic; similarly, Public Health England state that that one-third of births in Britain are unplanned. World Contraception Day has the goal to help each new generation of adults make informed decisions until every pregnancy is planned.

The topic of contraception is becoming more pressing as lives have changed considerably within the last year and progress made in recent years is at risk of going backwards, due to the strain of inequalities within the social, political and economic systems around the planet.

Dr Charlotte Fairweather, Senior Medical Advisor of General Medicine & Digital Healthcare at pharmaceuticals company Bayer UK, recognises UK women in their 20s have the highest rate of unplanned pregnancy: “We need to continue to work alongside sexual health providers to ensure that young women have the knowledge and access to the services they need.”

Brian Sims, Philadelphia State Representative and Civil Rights Attorney highlights the importance of women’s right to the freedom of planning their own lives: “We cannot allow the progress achieved through the hard work and sacrifice of generations before us to be undone.”

What is the best birth control option?

Many find that they are discouraged from deciding upon a form of birth control as it can be overwhelming, due to the many options that are available. However, it is often a personal choice that varies between individuals. Birth control and safe sex awareness company Your Life encourages you to ask your healthcare provider which contraception is best for you.

Answering the initial questions such as: Which method protects against STIs? What about convenience of use? How effective are they? Your Life internationally educates the youth through their social media channels and a dedicated interactive questions section on their website here.

How can you practise safe sex?

It is possible to practise safe sex in a number of ways, for example, condoms and femidoms for vaginal and anal sex, or perhaps a dental dam for oral sex.

James Thomas a relationship expert at Condoms.uk, an online shop for condoms and sexual accessories, stresses the lack of conversation around safe sex: “Safe sex is of absolute paramount importance because most STI’s are particularly nasty, and at least four of them are incurable.”

Discussing the improvement of condom technology over the years due to their innovative materials, Thomas advises: “Just remember that even when on birth control, no method is 100% effective and wearing a condom is still advised.”

Find more information about World Contraception Day on the Your Life website.