The role of sex education in adolescent pregnancy

The aim of the present Review is to throw some light on the sexual education of young people in the hope that it would provide a panacea for adolescent pregnancy. The source of knowledge, family or school, is not the issue, but information presumably will foster an enlightened mind and perhaps even enlightened behaviour. The availability, or lack of availability, of sex education, contraception and abortion services appears worthy of special consideration. It is often assumed that adolescents, and especially low socio-economic adolescents, begin their pregnancies at young ages because of indifference, or cultural pattern. Too little attention has been paid to the provision of adequate sex education and birth control services, especially in developing countries.