By Wendy Anders

Although 78 percent of women in relationships reported using some form of contraception, a recent study in Costa Rica found that half of women’s last pregnancies weren’t desired.

Women aged 15-49 said the ideal number of children is two.

Results of the Second National Survey of Sexual Health and Reproductive Health-2015 were made public yesterday morning by the Ministry of Health, the Central American Population Center (CCP), the Costa Rican Demographic Association (ADC) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The study also revealed that at age 18, half of Costa Rican women and two-thirds of men have had sex. And 85 percent of respondents believed that sex education should start in primary school, and most believed it should start at age 10 or younger.

And while half of the women did not want their last pregnancy, one in three men did not want their partner’s last pregnancy.

“It is the responsibility of the state to promote clear policies and actions to educate the population about sexual and reproductive health, because ignorance and social stigmas cause human rights problems. The results of this survey are fundamental for directing our actions in the area of prevention and health,” said Vice President of the Republic, Ana Helena Chacón Echeverría.

The questionnaire covered a total of 16 topics related to sexual and reproductive health including sexual practices, fertility, contraception, sex education, sexually transmitted infections, opinions on reproductive rights, sexuality, and the relation of violence to health, as well as other health practices and tobacco consumption.

The UNFPA assistant representative in Costa Rica, Paula Antezana, was struck by the fact that many women’s first sexual relations are within an informal context often as very young adolescents and involving men five or more years older.

The study showed that one in three women who had their first sexual intercourse before age 15 had a partner who was five to nine years older, and one in five women in that age range had relations with a man 10 or more years older.

Other findings of importance to health prevention are that one in three women reported having suffered some form of sexual abuse or harassment. And among women aged 15-49, 45 percent reported they had smoked every day during the last 30 days.

The survey involved interviews with 3,200 people between the ages of 15 and 64 from all over the country in November-December, 2015. The results of the survey can be downloaded from the Ministry of Health <www.ministeriodesalud.go.cr>.