Although teenage pregnancies have been declining for the past decade, the rate of teenage deliveries is significantly lower in independent and church schools when compared to state schools and overall remains relatively high when compared with other EU countries, according to the Malta Association of Public Health Medicine.

Tackling sexual health should be a key public health priority for Malta in the coming years, it said, explaining that although Malta is progressing well towards the attainment of the health related sustainable development goals on many indicators, a poor score was registered for reducing HIV incidence and adolescent birth rates.

Findings from the European Health Interview Survey carried out locally in 2015 indicate that 8 per cent of adults report having had their first sexual intercourse by the age of 15 years. Compared to previous surveys the average age of first sexual activity in women has gone down from 21 to 18 years over the past decade.

Only 33 per cent of males and 39 per cent of females aged 15-24 report using contraception every time they have sex.

Only 33 per cent of males and 39 per cent of females aged 15-24 report using contraception every time they have sex

Contraceptive use is more common among those with higher levels of education and lowest amongst individuals with the lowest level of education.

Furthermore women with lowest education levels use the withdrawal method as the commonest form of contraception, while the condom is the most commonly used contraceptive method in women with higher levels of education, it pointed out.

The seriousness of the situation is clearly reflected in the sharp and steady increase in the number of reported sexually transmitted infections such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and HIV as well as the emergence of highly resistant Gonorrhoea.

In 2016, 58 newly diagnosed persons infected with HIV were reported compared to the 17 new cases reported in 2010.

MAPHM is proposing urgent action to increase awareness of STIs and HIV infections and ensure that high-risk individuals are tested and treated.

There is also the need to reach out to non-Maltese nationals through education and access to free testing, it said.

Priorities in this action plan should be based on the best available local epidemiological data on burden of disease, it said: “Measures and actions should be selected on the basis of the international evidence on cost-effectiveness, the extent to which they address inequity and their cultural appropriateness in the current Maltese context.”