With one in every four new HIV infections in Guyana occurring among young people between the ages of 15 and 24, healthcare providers are sounding the alarm warning that a persistent cultural reluctance to have open conversations about sex education is putting the lives of adolescents at serious risk.
Director of the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA), Kobe Smith, said on Wednesday that schools must step up and equip students with the practical knowledge they need to make informed decisions about their health and bodies.
“We need to give young people the tools to say, if it is that you do have sex these are the things you can do you can use a condom, you can be screened, you can have access to an abortion if you become pregnant. We even need to let young people know that you’re not supposed to be having sex with adults,” Smith said.
His comments come just days after Public Health Specialist Dr. Shanti Singh raised similar concerns about the country’s HIV statistics, sparking a broader public conversation about whether condoms should be made available in schools.
Smith argued that society has consistently failed to have these conversations in a robust and meaningful way, and called for an urgent, united response from the government, private sector, civil society, faith-based organisations, and parents.
“You don’t want a situation where you are losing young people either you’re losing them to adolescent pregnancy, which Guyana still has one of the highest rates of in the region, or in fact you’re losing them to HIV,” he warned.
While schools currently offer Health and Family Life Education (HFLE), Smith said the existing approach frequently falls short of what young people actually need, noting a critical disconnect in how these topics are delivered.
“A lot of times, we talk to young people, not with them,” he said.
He added that without credible, accurate guidance, many adolescents are turning to social media and peers for information significantly increasing their exposure to misinformation and risky behaviour. Smith also stressed that sex education conversations must directly address issues of consent and exploitation, making it unambiguously clear that sexual relationships between adults and minors are inappropriate and harmful.
