Two leading organizations dealing with AIDS in the DR launched this week a new campaign, "Sex Can Wait." The campaign seeks to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies and the number of Dominicans affected by AIDS. Sponsored by the Ministry of Health and funded in part by the European Union, the program has the cooperation of several Dominicana media. A recent United Nations sponsored study shows that in the DR almost one of every four teenagers has either been pregnant or will get pregnant. Studies show that 44% of the male teenagers and 36% of females have had their first sexual intercourse by 14. Of the teenagers that have had sex, 78% has been pregnant at least once. A recent study showed that 84% of teenagers think they cannot catch AIDS. The director of communications of Procets, one of the organizations spearheading the program, Gisela Ventura told Ultima Hora newspaper that while 20% of the nation’s population is of teenage age, 52% of these have not received any sex education. The campaign seeks to reach out to teenagers and motivate them to delay their first sexual experience to prevent an early pregnancies, or their catching AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. The program reaches out to teenagers 13-19 years old, urging them to wait for sex, or if they have already started, to take a break.
