§ Mr. GerrardTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate he has made of the percentage of people below the age of 24 using a condom when engaging in sexual intercourse; what the average age is at which young people in the UK have their first sexual experience; and what percentage of new HIV infections in the UK since 1997 were among people under the age of 24 years. [58786]
§ Ms BlearsThe second national survey of sexual attitudes and lifestyles (Natsal 2000) provides the best available evidence about current sexual behaviour. It was based on a survey of over 11,000 males and females aged 16 to 44 across Britain.
Key findings were that 83 per cent. of males and 80 per cent. of females aged between 16 and 19 and 77 per cent. of males and 76 per cent. of females aged between 20 and 24, at the time of interview, reported using a condom at first intercourse.
The median age of first intercourse among those aged between 16 and 19 at the time of interview was 16, for both males and females. Less than one-third of young people reported having sex before age 16.
The latest available information from the public health laboratory service shows that the percentage of new diagnoses of HIV in people under 24 years of age was 9.8 per cent. in 1997; 9.3 per cent. in 1998. 9.3 per cent. in 1999; 10.8 per cent in 2000 and 9.6 per cent. in 2001.