Teenage girls in developing countries are increasingly using contraception, but they have higher rates of inconsistent use and unintended pregnancy than adults, according to a study published in International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Reuters reports. Lead author Ann Blanc of EngenderHealth and colleagues found that contraception use among women ages 15 to 19 [...]

Condom use is associated with a reduced risk of contracting herpes simplex virus 2, according to a report based on pooled analysis of data from previous studies in the July 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV2) typically causes genital herpes, a chronic, [...]

A threejudge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on Wednesday unanimously ruled to lift an injunction blocking Washington state officials from penalizing pharmacists who refused to dispense the emergency contraception pill Plan B, the Los Angeles Times reports (Williams, Los Angeles Times, 7/9). The panel said the district court [...]

The North Carolina Senate on Tuesday voted 2521 to approve a bill (S. 221) that would require public school systems in the state to offer a sex education curriculum that includes information on abstinence, contraceptives and sexually transmitted infections, the WinstonSalem Journal reports. Currently, only two public school systems in the state offer comprehensive sex [...]

President Obama is causing the “core culturewar battle” over sex education to “come full circle” by proposing to redirect funding for abstinenceonly sex education to a new Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative that “rejects an abstinenceonly approach,” Washington Times columnist Cheryl Wetzstein writes. According to Wetzstein, Obamas fiscal year 2010 budget plan “zeroed out” the Title [...]

CNN examines Chinas efforts to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS by educating sex workers about the disease and prevention strategies. “It is estimated that some 700,000 people are living with HIV in China and there are about 50,000 new infections every year, according to the Chinese government and UNAIDS. The U.N. agency believes a significant [...]

Los Angeles County health officials on Wednesday announced a program that will offer young women home delivery of chlamydia and gonorrhea testing kits and send them a text message when the results are available, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports. The $450,000 program aims to curb the rapid spread of sexually transmitted infections in the county [...]

The Arizona AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) has reduced the number of medications it will cover antiretrovirals and drugs that treat opportunistic infections will not be affected, the Arizona Daily Star reports. The program relies heavily on federal funding. Judy Norton, chief of the states Office of HIV, STD and Hepatitis C Services, [...]

Terrence Higgins Trust is using this years National Condom Week (1824 May) as an opportunity to promote safer sex. The aim of the initiative is to raise awareness of the importance of condom use to prevent sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies.
THT will be displaying National Condom Week posters in its service [...]

“President Obamas push to reenergize the fight against the AIDS epidemic in the United States led to concern that he was going to allow U.S. global leadership in fighting the disease to languish,” a Washington Post editorial says, adding, “Those fears ought to be calmed after Mr. Obamas announcement Tuesday of an initiative that will [...]