Can abstinence-based and comprehensive approaches to sex education be combined?

Some people have argued that is it possible to combine the main elements of both comprehensive and abstinence-based approaches to sex education in one approach. These people point out that supporters of both abstinence-based and comprehensive approaches share the view that sex education plays an important role in HIV prevention and both approaches emphasise the potential benefits of delaying having sexual intercourse in terms of helping young people avoid HIV, other STIs and unintended pregnancies. On the basis of this it has been argued that abstinence-based and comprehensive approaches can be reconciled into one inclusive approach which is sometimes called abstinence-plus

In abstinence-plus sex education, although the main emphasis is on abstaining from sex as the preferred choice of protection, young people are also provided with information about contraception and disease prevention so that they can protect themselves when they do become sexually active 6. Abstinence-plus approaches include programmes such as the Reducing the Risk and APAUSE (Added Power And Understanding in Sex Education) which have been developed in the US and UK, respectively 7 8 9. Both these programmes comprise school-based curricula which explicitly emphasise that students should avoid unprotected intercourse, either by not having sex or (for students who choose to have sex) by using contraceptives.