NASHVILLE, Tenn. Health advocates say condoms should be given to Tennessee prison inmates to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

But state officials argue they don't see a problem justifying such a need and that the move would actually promote sexual activity.

Maine is right to reject federal funding that requires the state to focus solely on abstinence-only programs rather than offering comprehensive sex education, including abstinence. There is no evidence that programs that tell children to wait until marriage to have sex actually work. Worse, there is evidence that teenagers who participate in the abstinence-only programs are engaging in risky sexual behavior, increasing their chances of contracting diseases or becoming pregnant.

TUESDAY Sept. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Most sexually active male American teens say they have no intention of getting a girl pregnant, but more than half also believe it is likely that they will do so within the next six months, a new study finds.

This fatalistic attitude "highlights the need to have a larger conversation about pregnancy, condom use, and what the barriers to condom use might be among male adolescents," said lead researcher Cynthia Rosengard, an assistant professor of medicine at Brown University School of Medicine in Providence, R.I. "We need to help them, so that their actions fall more in line with their plans."

Activist Hollywood actors have lent their names and voices to "safe sex" messages, but when it comes to movies, recent studies show the message is distinctly lacking. This information is noteworthy of itself and also because Hollywood has come under attack in the past for its use of cigarettes in movies - equally unexpected given Hollywood's politically correct culture and pronouncements.

WASHINGTON - U.S. teen pregnancy and birth rates have plummeted to recorded lows as more teenagers delay sex, abstain from it, use contraception and use it more effectively. Abortions also are down.

The decline, to the lowest teen birth rates since national tallies began in 1940, is a remarkable personal health reform, sharper than U.S. declines in smoking or increases in seat-belt use.

A survey by Condom Hall found that 42 percent of men surveyed failed to leave space at the end of the condom for semen.

The condom vender?s study, conducted in January 2006, surveyed 858 heterosexual males at 18 large universities nationwide.

A U.S. study shows the use of a condom while having sex can reduce a woman's risk of acquiring the virus that causes cervical cancer by up to 70 percent.

A vaccine, Gardasil, that provides nearly 100 percent protection against cervical cancer has been approved in the United States but scientists say people will still need to use condoms since the vaccine only protects against some strains of human papillomavirus that cause cervical cancer, newscientist.com reported Tuesday.

A U.S. study shows the use of a condom while having sex can reduce a woman's risk of acquiring the virus that causes cervical cancer by up to 70 percent.

A vaccine, Gardasil, that provides nearly 100 percent protection against cervical cancer has been approved in the United States but scientists say people will still need to use condoms since the vaccine only protects against some strains of human papillomavirus that cause cervical cancer, newscientist.com reported Tuesday.

Many teens put condoms on after starting sex or take them off before it's over -- thus risking sexually transmitted diseases.

The finding comes from a survey of 1,373 British teens by Bethan Hatherallof London's National Children's Bureau, and colleagues.

Many college students may be left ill-informed about safer sex and more at risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancies because of a lack of access to information about sexual health and availability of condoms at some schools, according to the Trojan Sexual Health Report Card

Two UK surveys, 10 years apart, indicate that there's been a substantial increase in the rate of condom use, particularly among young people. However, condom use is inconsistent among people who report high rates of new sexual partners.

This may be a factor in the recent resurgence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), Dr. Jackie Cassell from the University of Brighton and colleagues at University College London surmise.

CONDOMS can significantly reduce the risk of women being exposed to the virus linked to cervical cancer, a leading charity said today.

Tenovus, the Welsh cancer charity, said that condom use during sex can reduce the risk of exposure to the human papilloma virus (HPV) by as much as 70%.

The virus that causes cervical cancer may be linked to throat cancer in people who engage in oral sex, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A study in 300 adults found that those infected with the human papillomavirus who had oral sex with more than six partners were three times as likely to get throat cancer. The research was included in a package of studies and commentary on the virus in Thursday's issue of the journal.

Who is Doing It and How Often: Although we don't recommend comparing your sex life to what others consider to be normal, it can be interesting to see how often other couples have intercourse.

This page has statistics and studies from reputable institutions citing the effectiveness of male latex condoms. The last section addresses some common myths about condoms.

The following statistics are from the fact sheet "The Truth About Latex Condoms," developed by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS).

Pregnancy and birth rates among teenagers in the United States have declined over the past decade but still remain an endemic public health issue.

Reasons for the decline include increased motivation of youth to achieve higher levels of education, the availability of comprehensive sexuality education in schools, leading to young people's knowledge about contraception, more effective contraceptive use, and improved ability to negotiate contraceptive practice; and greater social support for services related to both pregnancy and disease prevention among adolescents.

According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate for teens 15-19 decreased 27 percent between 1990 and 1999. After reaching 117 pregnancies per 1,000 females ages 15-19 in 1990, the pregnancy rate has decreased to 86 pregnancies per 1,000 females ages 15-19. The pregnancy data include births, abortions, and miscarriages.

One out of 4 women and one out of 5 men have no knowledge about their sexual partners' history.
Two-thirds of 1,000 women age 18 to 60 knew nothing or very little about STDs (other than HIV/AIDS) in 1995.
The highest at-risk groups are adolescents and gays. African American and Hispanic women are also in the high-risk group.
The rate of unwanted pregnancies and incidence of disease is alarming...

About 15% of incarcerated drug users at correctional facilities in the Canadian province of British Columbia reported using injection drugs during their incarceration, causing concern that prisons are contributing to the spread of HIV in Canada, according to one of two recently released studies conducted by researchers from the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, the CNS/Vancouver Sun reports.

The first anti-AIDS vaginal gel to make it through late-stage testing failed to stop HIV infection in a study of 6,000 South African women, disappointed researchers announced Monday.

The study was marred by low use of the gel, which could have undermined results, they said. Women used it less than half the number of times they had sex, and only 10 percent said they used it every time as directed.