Health - Double Standards On Education
Brian Harradine over at online opinion throws light on the difference in approach to sex education and smoking.

Now consider VicHealth’s message to teens advocated in the Herald Sun earlier this month. Did it say that we need to affirm their choice to smoke and minimise the risks? Or develop and implement a comprehensive, world’s best-practice policy on “Safe Smoking”? Or empower teens with skills in negotiating “Safe Smoking”?

Of course not.

But that’s the approach VicHealth’s CEO Rob Moodie advocated recently. Not about smoking mind you, but about providing even more sex education to teenagers in the hope that giving the green light to sex will reduce the abortion rate.

Just another example of inconsistency which shows the real reasons are not always the ones given.

He also links to some recent data and resources on the benefits of abstinence programs.

Update:Rob Moodie, CEO of VicHealth said

The Senator looks admiringly to the US. The US has a much higher abortion rate and teenage pregnancy rate than Australia

I find it astonishing, that the CEO of VicHealth could make such a horribly wrong claim such as this. Clearly, he need to get better information passed to his office.
Considering that Australia has almost exactly the same rate of Abortions and the US, to claim that the US has a 'much higher' rate is somewhat bewildering coming from a qualified professional.

Please Rob, if you are going to make a statement, make sure it is accurate.
(Reference International Family Planning Perspectives, 1999, 25(Supplement):S30–S38)
- posted by Alan Grey @ Friday, February 25, 2005