Today’s women have three times more sexual partners by the time they reach 24 than women of their grandmothers’ generation had by the same age states research by the sexual health team at Lloydspharmacy.
Young women today have an average of 5.65 different sexual partners by the time they are 24. Eight percent claimed to have had more than ten partners. There grandmothers generation had an average of 1.67 their mothers’ generation had 3.72 sexual partners by the same age.
Surprisingly, comparing the decades since World War II found that young women in the supposedly ‘Swinging Sixties’ had the least while young women in the ‘Noughties’ had the most.
At the same time cervical cancer rates in UK women under 25 have not decreased despite better screening. Lloydspharmacy believes this is because of the increased number of sexual partners in young women.
There has been a significant decrease in cervical cancer of older age groups but not in women under age 25.
| Insights for UK women between age 18 to 24 | |
| 2000-2009 | Average 5 partners, 8% claim more than 10 |
| 1990-1999 | Average under 5 |
| 1970-1979 | 24% of women had three to five different sexual partners by age 24 |
| 1960-1969 | Almost 50% had one sexual partner by 24 |
Not surprisingly, Lloydspharmacy is encouraging women to protect themselves against the human papilloma virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection known to be a major causes of cervical cancer.
“HPV infections are very common, especially in younger people”, said Lloydspharmacy’s head of sexual health , Clare Kerr.
“If you are sexually active the cervical cancer vaccinations is one of the most effective ways to prevent infection with high risk forms of HPV.”
Previously research published in the British Medical Journal found that young women indulging in early sex had a two fold increased risk of developing cervical cancer.
The study of 20,000 women conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer findings poorer women become sexually active on average four years earlier said lead author Dr Silvia Francheschi.
This increased the risk of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, which is linked to cervical cancer.
The age of a woman at the birth of her first baby is also a key factor contributing to early cervical cancer. Yet as the age at which youths begin sex, declines, an Irish study has found the stigma of possible STD is greater than the fear of pregnancy and refusing to talk about their partners sexual history is increasing the risk of contangion.
While Lloydspharmacy is encouraging sexually women of all ages to be vaccinated, a research study of Porta Rican women found that the HPV Vaccine Of Little Benefit To Women Over Age 40.
This study of 9,000 Costa Rican women ages 19 through 97 was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Although HPV infection is more common in older women, the study found that the rate of newly detected cases declined with age, from 35% of cases in women ages 18 through 25 to 13.5% of cases in women age 42 and older.
“Because the HPV vaccine can only prevent infections, and these women are not getting that many new infections, the potential benefit of HPV vaccination among older women is very limited” said study author Cecilia Rodriguez quoted in the New York Times.
