National Physicians Center for Family Resources

                                                                                                                                  

PRESS RELEASE

 

For Immediate Release:                                                                                Press Contact:     Evelyn Johnson

July 2, 2001                                                                                                                                  (877) 870-1890

 

 

Surgeon General’s “Call To Action” and Adolescent Health: Physicians Call For Higher Standards

 

 

(Birmingham) - The National Physicians Center for Family Resources (NPC) thanks the Surgeon General for his “Call to Action” To Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior. Some important points regarding best health practices include abstinence, marriage, monogamy and parental involvement in sexuality education.

 

While this “Call To Action” presents an opportunity to renew dialogue concerning the sexual health of our nation, its major suggestions fall considerably short of setting the highest standards possible in regard to sexual health, especially for adolescents.

 

• The Surgeon General’s report acknowledges abstinence as the only way to avoid pregnancy and STDs with certainty but strongly supports contraceptive-based sexuality education. While Dr. Satcher concludes that, “more research is needed” to measure the effectiveness of abstinence education, he does not call for more research into the long-term effectiveness of the “safer sex” message. If the current epidemics of teen pregnancy and STDs serve as accurate public health indicators, two decades of contraceptive-based education have not improved the sexual health of America’s adolescents.

 

• Studies show that more than fifty percent of adolescents are not sexually active. The Surgeon General’s “Call to Action” should support adolescents making the healthiest lifestyle choice while advising adolescents who are already sexually involved to delay further sexual activity, preferably until marriage. More encouragement, not more research, is needed here.

 

• Research shows that early sexual involvement is associated with other health-risk behaviors, including the use of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs. The Surgeon General should advise schools to address these behaviors in an integrated format, encouraging abstinence from all health-risk behaviors as the expected standard.

 

• The Surgeon General stresses the importance of parental involvement in sexuality education and notes that this education should begin in the home. Within this secure, intimate environment, parents should be encouraged to reinforce the healthiest message – abstinence from all health-risk behaviors, including sexual activity. In addition, any sexuality education that takes place in the schools should include full disclosure of content, as well as components specifically designed to inform and involve parents.

 

• According to the “Call To Action,” it is important to recognize how sexual health is, “connected with both physical and mental health.” With this in mind, the Surgeon General should recommend sexuality education that emphasizes the mental health concerns associated with adolescent sexual activity in addition to physical health concerns. This approach should promote abstinence as the most mentally and physically healthy choice for adolescents.

 

• Considering the high physical, emotional and fiscal costs of adolescent sexual activity, the Surgeon General should recommend funding for abstinence-only education equal to or exceeding that of contraceptive-based sexuality education. In addition, more funding should be earmarked for longitudinal studies of abstinence-only education programs.

 

As physicians, we believe that self-respect, self-control and self-discipline are the cornerstones of a physically and mentally healthy population. As the leading health officer of our nation, the Surgeon General should promote the healthiest policies for America’s citizens. In terms of sexual health, this involves “taking action” to promote abstinence as both a healthy and attainable lifestyle, especially for adolescents.

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The National Physicians Center for Family Resources is a 501 (c ) (3) organization established to produce and promote family-friendly educational resources, public policy and model legislation with the assistance of a national network of physicians.

 

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