Habtamu Demelash, Adamu Addisie
College of Medicine and Health Science, Madawalabu University, Bale, Goba, Ethiopia.
College of Health Science, School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
J Sex Transm Dis. 2013;2013:524076. doi: 10.1155/2013/524076. Epub 2013 Dec 26.
Street children worldwide do not have the information, skills, health services, and support they need to go through sexual development during adolescence. This study is undertaken to systematically investigate the fit between street children's sexual and reproductive health needs and the existing services. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 422 street children and four service providers. About 72.5% of the respondents were sexually active during data collection and 84.3% of males and 85.7% of females tended to have multiple sexual partners. More than two-thirds (67.3%) of the participants had used at least one type of substance. History of substance use (OR = 2.5; 95% CI = 1.42-4.56) and being on the street for the first one to three years (OR = 5.9; 95% CI = 1.41-7.22) increased the likelihood of having sexual activity. More than half (64.9%) of the street children did not attend any kind of sexual or reproductive health education programs. Lack of information on available services (26.5%) was the biggest barrier for utilization of local sexual and reproductive health services. From the individual interview with coordinator, the financial and networking problems were hindering the service delivery for street children. In conclusion, street children who are special high risk group have not been targeted and hence continue to remain vulnerable and lacking in sexual and reproductive health services and sexual health services are poorly advertised and delivered to them.
世界各地的街头儿童在青春期经历性发育时，缺乏他们所需的信息、技能、医疗服务和支持。本研究旨在系统调查街头儿童的性与生殖健康需求与现有服务之间的契合度。对422名街头儿童和四名服务提供者进行了一项横断面研究。在数据收集期间，约72.5%的受访者有性行为，84.3%的男性和85.7%的女性倾向于有多个性伴侣。超过三分之二（67.3%）的参与者至少使用过一种毒品。吸毒史（比值比=2.5；95%置信区间=1.42 - 4.56）以及流落街头一至三年（比值比=5.9；95%置信区间=1.41 - 7.22）会增加发生性行为的可能性。超过一半（64.9%）的街头儿童没有参加过任何形式的性与生殖健康教育项目。缺乏关于现有服务的信息（26.5%）是利用当地性与生殖健康服务的最大障碍。从与协调员的个人访谈中得知，财务和网络问题阻碍了为街头儿童提供服务。总之，作为特殊高危群体的街头儿童未被纳入目标人群，因此仍然易受伤害，缺乏性与生殖健康服务，而且性健康服务的宣传和提供都很差。
