Sex education seen as key to curbing China's high abortion rate

Jul 30, 2009, 9:12 GMT

   Beijing - Gaps in sex education and a poor use of contraception are being blamed for the 13 million abortions that are performed in China each year, state media reported Thursday.

   'The challenge of reducing [the number] of women seeking abortions in China is tough,' Wu Shangchun, a divisional director of the National Population and Family Planning Commission's technology research centre, told the China Daily.

   Wu said nearly half of Chinese women who had abortions had not used contraception and added that it was difficult to calculate abortion statistics because many of the procedures are performed in unregistered clinics.

   A survey conducted by a hospital in Shanghai found that fewer than 30 per cent of callers to a hotline knew how to avoid pregnancy and 17 per cent were aware of sexually transmitted diseases, the report said.

   'Sex is no longer considered taboo among young people today, and they believe they can learn everything they need from the internet, but it doesn't mean they've developed a proper understanding or attitude toward it,' Yu Dongyan, a hospital gynecologist, was quoted as saying.

   Citing government figures, the China Daily said about 62 per cent of women who have abortions are 20 to 29 years old, and most are single.

   Peking University Professor Li Ying told the newspaper that sex education needs to be strengthened with the support of universities and broader society.

   But many parents are reluctant to talk about sex with their children. A study by the All-China Women's Federation last year showed that more than 40 per cent of surveyed parents had not discussed the physiological changes that happen during puberty with their children.

   Abortions in China cost around 600 yuan (88 dollars) and abortion-inducing pills are available through hospitals.

   For women in relationships, abortions can be a way to abide by China's family-planning policy, which limits most couples to one child.