Daily HealthBeat Tip

Safer sex in Spanish

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Hispanic teenagers are more likely to say no to sex for more years than non-Hispanic whites do. But Hispanic teens are more likely to have HIV, typically by heterosexual sex.

So Antonia Villarruel of the University of Michigan looked at Philadelphia-area Hispanic teen-agers in an HIV prevention program. The program linked Hispanic cultural values, such as respect and family responsibility, with prevention. Her study in Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

"Kids get pregnant the same way in all cultures. The way to prevent HIV infection is not to have sex � and secondly, if you are going to have sex, to be able to use condoms." (11 seconds)

The teens were less likely to have sex � and when they did, more likely to have safer sex.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: October 27, 2006

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