US schools don’t consider sex education as an important topic, suggests a new report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than 50% high schools and about 80%middle schools in the country are not teaching sex education topics recommended by the CDC, the report said.

The findings are enough to indicate that many US teens are not receiving important information on serious topics like HIV and STDs. Dr. Jonathan Mermin from the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention said, “We need to do a better job of giving our young people the skills and knowledge they need to protect their own health. It's important to teach students about healthy relationships and how to reduce sexual risk before they start to have sex”.

The report by the federal agency is based on its 2014 School Health Profiles, which checked whether US schools are teaching all 16 recommended sexual health education topics or not. The topics recommended by the CDC are based on many scientific reports which may help young students to avoid risk of developing any sex-related disease.

The topics include basic information on health issues like HIV and other STDs, and how to avoid them. Data collected by the CDC reported that just 4% teens admitted that they used condom the last time they had sex. Approximately, one-fifth said they consumed alcohol or used drugs last time when they had sex.