The use of the contraceptive pill and condoms has decreased among young people. This is evident from research by Soa Aids Nederland. The GGD Drenthe recognizes itself in that image.
Pill use among young people has decreased from 76 to 46 percent in twenty years. A young woman at the Drenthe College in Assen indicates that she uses the pill, but does not actually want to. “Because I heard that hormones are not good for your body.”
The GGD Drenthe believes that social media such as TikTok and Instagram have a major influence on young people. “You see that if you watch a video about the disadvantages of the pill, you end up in a negative spiral of messages about the disadvantages of using the pill. You can then be sucked into that. We hear in the consultation room that young women think that hormones in the pill or in the hormone-containing IUD are not good for the body,” says Dianne Schriemer, sexual health social nurse at the GGD Drenthe.
The use of condoms has also decreased from three-quarters to two-thirds. “That is particularly worrying for STD care and, in combination with declining use of contraception, we do not know what it does in terms of unintended pregnancies,” says Schriemer.
Last year, the national GGD launched the ‘No love, no STD’ campaign to encourage condom use. Schriemer: “It was mainly used during the introductory weeks and the start of the school year to promote condom use. But as GGD Drenthe, we also mainly stand for positive sexual health. That young people have a choice in how they have sex.”
A good outcome of the research is that young people are more positive about their sex lives. “But what is worrying is that there is more sexual violence and that more women experience more pain the first time they have sex,” says Schriemer.
The tide can still be turned, the GGD Drenthe thinks. “More needs to be done about sexuality education by parents and in secondary schools. There is a lot of incorrect information on the internet and there is therefore a task for educators and parents to properly inform young people. And there is also a task for us.”