More than half 18-24 year-olds admit to having unprotected sex at least once, finds survey

Durex has launched the global campaign #CondomHero to raise awareness of safe sex on World Aids Day

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More than half of young people have admitted to having unprotected sex at least once.

This shocking statistic has been revealed following newly released data from the 2017 Durex Global Sex Survey.

More than one in 10 people aged 18-24 also said that if they were to find out their date was carrying a condom, they’d feel less inclined to sleep with them.

These figures are incredibly worrying considering the fact that in 2016 around 4,500 adults were newly infected with HIV every day, with 37 per cent of those afflicted being between the ages of 15 and 24 years old.

A great deal of people fail to recognise the connection between unprotected sex and sexually transmitted diseases.

16 per cent of people said that they’ve never considered protecting themselves against STIs when having sex, which is very concerning.

To mark World AIDS Day today, Durex has set a goal to do everything in their power to promote safe sex, especially among young people.

With that in mind, Durex have teamed up with Unilad to launch the #CondomHero campaign.

The concept is simple - to encourage as many people as possible to carry a condom with them and to share photos of themselves doing so with the hashtag #CondomHero.

Roberto Pescatori, Durex brand director, emphasised the importance of their social media campaign.

“Durex is on a mission to help everyone have safe and pleasurable sex.

“This World AIDS Day with our #CondomHero campaign we are empowering young people to challenge negative preconceptions about safe sex and be proud to be protected.”

However, that’s not all.

As part of the #CondomHero campaign, Durex will also be donating 1m condoms to UNAIDS projects so that they can make a positive impact on the lives of young people worldwide.

UNAID’s aim is to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

The #CondomHero campaign will spur more people on to spread the word about protected sex and in doing so, change the lives of others for the better.