Urban Policy program of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Student Unions: Prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy must be free of charge for under-29s and university students. They must receive genuinely free contraception with no time limit. You must be able to choose the type of contraception yourself.
In Helsinki, the goal has been partially achieved.
Currently, the City of Helsinki offers contraceptive pills or contraceptive rings for one year to children under the age of 25 from its basic drug selection, as well as a copper or hormone coil or contraceptive implant until the user turns 25 years old.
For all, Helsinki’s healthcare units offer condoms as well as the first use of a copper or hormone coil or perhaps an implant.
Free contraception is available to everyone under the age of 25, including students from outside the community and those who have chosen Helsinki Health Center services.
The city of Porvoo also offers free contraception to Porvoo residents under the age of 25. The contraceptive options offered in Porvoo do not include a deadline, only an upper age limit.
Why should the upper age limit be raised and the deadlines waived?
First, free contraception has been shown to reduce the number of abortions. In other words, to save money, save the municipality money! The City of Vantaa has been offering free prevention since 2013. Between 2013 and 2014, the number of abortions among 15–19-year-olds decreased significantly, by 36 percent. During the same period, the use of long-acting contraception quadrupled among 15- to 19-year-olds, and doubled among older women.
Second, free prevention improves public health: It reduces the number of STD infections!
Free contraception and condoms distributed in connection with e-pills brought with them a positive breeze in Rauma, which also offers free contraception: in 2014, the number of chlamydial infections decreased from 110 to 77. In 2019, 79% of chlamydial infections were diagnosed in women aged 15–29 years. In Finland, a total of 16,178 chlamydial infections were received 2019 in 2019, which was the largest annual number reported to the Infectious Diseases Register.
The median age of polytechnic graduates is 26 years. (Minedu) In particular, the income of a student covered by a study grant is low, which may affect the regular use of contraception, but there is also a notch in the student’s wallet. The sexual health of college students should not be forgotten.
Currently, free contraception for those under 25 is part of the government program, but its implementation has not been monitored
