Condom use is more widespread - Study

CHANDAPIWA BAPUTAKI
Staff Writer | Thursday November 12, 2009 00:00

Making a presentation at the launch of the report at Phakalane Golf Estate, the Chief Demographer of the Central Statistics Office, Dr Peter Ubomba -Jaswa, said all survey participants  who had ever had sexual intercourse were asked about condom use with their most recent,  next-most recent and second-most recent sexual partners.

Generally, 55 percent of the respondents used a condom the first time they had sexual intercourse with their most recent sexual partners. However, the demographer said, condom use declined as the list went on.

Ubomba-Jaswa said in an attempt to establish the extent of multiple concurrent partnerships, respondents were asked about the number of people they had had sexual intercourse with during the last twelve months and the last one month.

Among the males who had had sexual intercourse during those time periods, 77 percent reported having sexual intercourse with one partner while the rest had more than one partner.

The corresponding figures for females   were 89.6 percent and 10.4 percent respectively. During the last month,    91.4 percent of males reported having had sexual intercourse with one partner and 9.6 with more than one. The demographer said a much higher proportion of females, 97 percent, reported sexual intercourse with one partner and only three percent had had it with more than one partner.

With respect to the use of condoms with regular and non-regular sexual partners during the past 12 months, 27.7 percent reported always using  condoms in regular partnerships and 39.6 percent said they had used condoms in non-regular relationships. While 45.8 percent of males reportedly used condoms in non-regular relationships, 34.6percent of females did.

It was revealed that among all who were drunk the last time they had sexual intercourse within the last 12 months with their most recent partners, about 63 percent, claimed to have used a condom. The corresponding proportions for males and females are 66 and 60 percent respectively.

The report further noted that the younger the age during the sexual debut, the more likely they would use a condom.

Ubomba -Jaswa said 91 percent of those who are currently aged 15 to 19 used a condom during their sexual debut at the same age, 89 percent of those currently aged 20 to 24 did the same at age 15 to 19, while the corresponding percentage for the current 25 to 29-year olds is 76 percent. The older the person, the less likely that she or he used a condom in their sexual debut.

The demographer said educational attainment is positively associated with the use of condoms during sexual debuts. 'The higher the education, the higher the proportion of those who would have used a condom during their sexual debut although there is evidence of a slight drop among those at higher level of education relative to those at secondary school,' he said.