Mississippi State Department of Health

Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP)

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The purpose of PREP is to carry out evidence-based programs designed to educate adolescents on both abstinence and contraception for the prevention of pregnancy and sexually-transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.

The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) is committed to promoting the healthy development of all children and adolescents in the state of Mississippi. Mississippi PREP envisions all Mississippi youth to have access to evidence-based, medically accurate, age-appropriate sex education programs and resources, empowering adolescents to make safer reproductive health choices. Mississippi PREP carries out this vision by working with school districts, community-based organizations, and youth detention centers in counties that are in the most need of evidence-based sex education programs.

The Facts

Parents overwhelmingly support teaching sex-related education in Mississippi public schools.

A 2012 survey of parents by the Center for Mississippi Health Policy found that almost all parents (92%) think that comprehensive sex-related education should begin in middle school with a curriculum determined by public health professionals.

The Challenge

Mississippi Teen Birth Rate (ages 15-19), 2009-2015

The Costs

Mothers under the age of 18 consume the majority of Mississippi's teen birth spending.

Data Sources

Contact
Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP)
Office of Preventive Health
Mississippi State Department of Health
715 Pear Orchard Road
Ridgeland, MS 39157

Phone: 601-206-1010



Links referenced on this page
Read the complete report    https://mshealthpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/MSU-HB999-Final-Report-2-9-12.pdf
National Center for Health Statistics    https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/states/mississippi/ms.htm
2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey    https://nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline/app/Results.aspx?LID=MS

Find this page at https://msdh.ms.gov/page/44,0,362.html

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