Condoms-in-school debate hits Mexico
 

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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican government ministry
is pushing for the installation of condom machines in
secondary schools in less affluent areas to stem a
surge in teenage pregnancies, a scheme unlikely to
find favor with the Roman Catholic church.

A new study commissioned by the Social Development
Ministry found that 15 percent of adolescent girls in
deprived areas were pregnant, local media reported.
Mexico does not produce national teenage pregnancy
figures.

"Statistics show that secondary school is when most
people start having sex," ministry spokesman Andreas
Solis said on Monday. "Promoting the use of condoms is
an urgent necessity."

The study found half of adolescents in areas with high
poverty rates use no protection when they start having
sex and that 20 percent had sexually transmitted
infections.

The study, which was confined to economically deprived
areas, was carried out by the U.S. University of
California, Berkeley, and Mexico's national health
institute. It had not been made public but was leaked
to the daily newspaper Reforma.

The condom machine proposal would have to be approved
by the Education Ministry and was expected to face
firm opposition from parents' groups and church
officials. Mexicans are overwhelmingly Roman Catholic.

"It would implant sexual promiscuity because young
people, believing they were protected, would be
sexually irresponsible," Guillermo Bustamante, head of
the national parents' group, told Reforma.

Solis said the problem was urgent.

"The problem starts at home because parents are
reluctant to talk about the subject. As a mainly
Catholic society, the theme of sin comes before the
theme of health," Solis said.

"Many teachers avoid the subject because sadly they
don't have the ability or knowledge necessary to
educate on this."

The idea of distributing condoms in schools has
triggered fierce debate in countries like the United
States, Canada, Britain and Australia. In France, many
state schools already have condom machines