The Use of Contraveptives against Global Overpopluation
The Use of Contraveptives against Global Overpopluation
Contraceptives have been used for over a thousand years to allow people to have safe sex. The purpose for these products is to either prevent pregnancy, protect against sexually transmitted diseases, or both. The biggest problem surrounding this issue is the number of people who have no access to proper contraceptives. For a long time this hasn’t been that much of an issue because the world population was not as large or increasing as quickly as it is now. However, overpopulation is becoming a pressing issue that must be addressed and corrected.
Every sexually active person should always use condoms unless in a mutually monogamous relationship. An estimated 24 billion condoms should be used each year, but actual use is much less, at an estimated 6 to 9 billion each year. To avoid AIDS as well as other sexually transmitted diseases, more and more unmarried people are changing their sexual behavior. Some are avoiding sex entirely, while others have started using condoms. In surveyed countries 5% to 33% of never-married men say they have started using condoms to avoid AIDS. But many others have not adopted safe sexual behavior. Rates of condom use are lower within marriage than among the sexually active unmarried. Yet many married couples need condoms, too, both for family planning and for protection against STDs.
Narrowing the gap between condom need and use is a major public health challenge. Worldwide, at least 33 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, and another 14 million have died. An estimated 16,000 new infections occur every day. About 6 of every 10 new HIV infections are to women, and many newborns contract the virus from infected mothers.
Efforts to increase condom use are a good social, economic, and health investment. More condom use would reduce rates of HIV infection and slow the spread of AIDS so that emphasis could shift from dealing with the consequences of AIDS to meeting other health needs.
Despite the AIDS epidemic, many people practice risky sexual behavior—even when they know that condoms prevent infections. It is unlikely that all sexually active people will always use condoms when needed. Powerful social norms encourage men to take sexual risks, such as visiting commercial sex workers, and at the same time discourage condom use. Traditional gender roles keep women from talking about sex or asking for condoms. Wives may know that...