The ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) along with a number of NGOs and international organizations conducted a survey on school age youths regarding the consumption of alcohol, drugs and sex.
The survey dubbed the MoEYS and NGOs’ investigation on 2,400 youths between the age of 10 to 24, which includes 1,253 boys and 1,236 girls, found that 91% of the boys consume alcohol or alcoholic beverages, whereas 70% of the girls said that they have consumed alcohol or alcoholic beverages.
Regarding sex, 41% of the boys and 23% of the girls indicated that they had sex and some even had abortions. In regards to the consumption of drugs, 15% of the boys and 4% of the girls said they have used drugs.
The survey was conducted in 8 provinces and municipalities: Phnom Penh, Battambang province, Kampong Cham province, Siem Reap province, Banteay Meanchey province, Svay Rieng province, Koh Kong province, and it took place at the beginning of 2010.
Pen Saroeun, director of educational health at MoEYS, said on 05 November that the survey was conducted during a period of 1 year in order to collect various statistics and the questions were asked to Cambodian youths along a number of hot spot areas where there are large crowds and where diseases could be easily spread.
Pen Saroeun added: “The areas are places where there are bars, karaoke parlors, massage parlors, street corners, soccer fields, attraction parks, public parks, snooker parlors, computer game parlors etc…”
Pen Saroeun indicated that after collecting the survey results, MoEYS called for cooperation between the authority and the NGOs in order to educate the youths so they may understand about the various dangers from consumption of drugs, alcohol and sex.
Dr. Um Sopheap, president of the Khmer HIV/AIDS NGO Alliance (KHANA), who uses the results of the survey, indicated that the survey is useful for Cambodia in regards to youth involvement in the use of drugs, alcohol and sex.
Um Sopheap said that the results of the survey could be used to set up new programs to educate the youths about the protection of their health: “This if the first time in Cambodia that there is such level of study, and we obtained this much scientific information. This is very needed information for programs to set up policies for the youths.”
The survey was conducted with the participation of UNICEF, WHO, UNFPA, UNESCO, UNAIDS, SRP, USAID and PRASIT etc…
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