SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH OF ADOLESCENTS – WHERE WE ARE IN SLOVENIA?

Abstract

Background. The rate of adolescent pregnancies (15–19 years) in Slovenia have been decreasing in the last twenty years. In 1981 the birth rate was 37/1000 and the abortion rate was 24/1000. In 2000 the birth rate was 8/1000 and the abortion rate was 12/1000. The abortion rates have been perisisted around 12/1000 since 1992. Why the abortion rate among adolescents does not decrease? The comparison with European countries, in which abortion rate is low (around 5/1000) shows, that the reasons should be searched in the low prevalence of oral contraceptive (OC) use in Slovenia. In Slovenia OCs are used in only 14% of secondary-school students, but in the countries with the lowest abortion rates OCs are used in 40–60%. Therefore, the use of OCs among adolescents should be encouraged to decrease the number of unintended pregnancies. At the Center for adolescents at University Department of Ob/ Gyn in Ljubljana and in the network for sexual and reproductive health of adolescents a lot of acitivites have been carried out in the last years in the field of education of health workers and teachers, in establishing the communication between health workers and teachers and in delivering information to lay population. However, there has been no rise in the use of effective contraception. Conclusions. We determine that we need wider professional and political support to improve the accessability od adolescent service and to improve the reproductive health of adolescents