January 09, 2012 11:57
About seven in every 10 people over 65 continue their sex lives, but one in every three of them have contracted sexually transmitted diseases, according to a survey.
The figures are the result of a survey of 500 people in that age group nationwide last year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Sunday. Some 331 respondents or 66.2 percent said they had sex. Some 50.8 percent said they used Viagra or other erectile dysfunction treatments.
The survey also showed that they had unsafe sex. Some 122, or 36.9 percent, of the 331 said they had contracted venereal diseases.
The questionnaire did not ask explicitly whether they resorted to prostitutes, but it asked them where they bought sex, and 177, or 35.4 percent, supplied the information, according to the ministry. Eighty of the 177 who apparently went to prostitutes said they did not use condoms.
"There has been no public debate on the sex lives of old people yet, although they have difficulty finding sex partners because many of them are bereaved or divorced," the ministry said. It pledged to come up with policies based on the survey.
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