Shanghai officials are calling for improved sex education for
the city's growing migrant population after a recent survey
suggested many migrants living in Shanghai have little
understanding of contraception and sexual diseases.
In order to better understand how much sex education migrant
workers in Shanghai had already received and what health services
they require, local health officials conducted a large-scale survey
of 1,092 unmarried migrants between the ages of 15 and 24 in
Changning District from July to December last year.
"Because of their poor educational background, migrant people
are more lenient about and open to sex, but their understanding of
condoms is very limited," said Dr Lou Chaohua of the Shanghai
Institute of Family Planning Technical Instruction, which conducted
the survey.
"Many of the respondents have basic knowledge about AIDS and
sexually transmitted disease, but their understanding of
reproductive health and contraception seems to be very poor."
Under 35 percent of male respondents and nearly 13 percent of
women surveyed said they are sexually active. However, over 47
percent of the sexually active women said they have gotten pregnant
at least once and didn't use contraceptives.
The survey suggests about 90 percent of those pregnancies were
terminated by abortions since "they don't want to have a baby when
they are unmarried," said Lou.
She said it is tough to compare the survey results with similar
research on local women as researchers used different age groups
and methods, but the results indicate a larger number of migrants
are sexually active before marriage than locals, leading to a
greater number of unwanted pregnancies.
Local hospitals say they have received a growing number of
migrant women seeking abortions over the last two years, but refuse
to give out exact figures.
"The number of abortions performed on unmarried women is rising
quickly. Since we don't require identify cards to protect patients'
privacy, it is very easy to apply for the surgery," said Chen
Daning, a spokeswoman for the Shanghai International Peace
Maternity and Child Health Hospital.
Lou noted the survey shows the need for better sex education for
local young migrant population in order to lower the pregnancy and
abortion rates among unmarried women as well as to prevent any
possible spread of sexual diseases.
At present, local family planning officials have already created
a tracking system for the migrant population and provided sex
education by giving lectures and providing contraceptives free of
charge.
(eastday.com February 10, 2004)