<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>LONDON - In the first comprehensive global study of sexual behavior, British researchers found that people aren't losing their virginity at ever-younger ages, married people have the most sex, and there is no firm link between promiscuity and sexually transmitted diseases.The study was published today as part of a series on sexual and reproductive health by the British medical journal The Lancet. Professor Kaye Wellings of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicines and her colleagues analyzed data from 59 countries.Experts say the study will be useful not only in dispelling popular myths, but in shaping policies that will help improve sexual health across the world.Researchers looked at published studies on sexual behavior in the last decade, and data from national governments worldwide. Wellings noted that the survey results were based on self-reporting."We did have some of our preconceptions dashed," she said.They had expected to find the most promiscuous behavior in regions like Africa with the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases, but multiple partners were more commonly reported in industrialized countries where the incidence of such diseases was relatively low.Wellings says that implies poverty and education may be more important in the transmission of STDs.The survey found only two-thirds of single men and women in Africa reported recent sexual activity, compared with three-quarters of their counterparts in developed countries.The study also found that nearly everywhere, men and women have their first sexual experiences in their late teens -- from 15 to 19 -- with generally younger ages for women than for men, especially in developing countries. That isn't any younger than 10 years ago.Researchers also found that married people have the most sex, reporting engaging in sexual activity in the previous four weeks more often than singles.There is much greater equality with regard to the number of sexual partners in rich countries than in poor countries, the study found.Men and women in Australia, Britain, France and the United States tend to have an almost equal number of sexual partners. By contrast, in Cameroon, Haiti and Kenya, men tend to have multiple partners while women tend only to have one."In countries where women are beholden to their male partners, they are likely not to have the power to request condom use, and they probably won't know about their husbands' transgressions," Wellings said.</div>
