More cash for contraception

ENGLAND – An extra £20.5 (NZ$61) million will help young people get better access to contraception and support for teenagers and raise the awareness of the risks of unprotected sex, public health minister Dawn Primarolo and young people’s minister Beverley Hughes have announced.

The cash supports the teenage pregnancy strategy that is focused on encouraging young people to delay early sex and to practice safe sex as and when they do become sexually active.

The new package of support and investment to promote the use of contraception includes:

• £7 million (NZ$21 million) for a new ‘contraceptive choices’ media campaign to raise awareness of the different options – including Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs) – available to young people to prevent teenage conceptions.

• £10 million (NZ$29.8 million) for local health services to ensure contraception is available in the right places at the right time.

• £1 million (NZ$3 million) to support further education colleges develop and expand on-site contraception and sexual health services to help address the fact that 80 per cent of under-18 conceptions are among 16-17 year olds.

• A further £2.5 million (NZ$7.5 million) will help develop a Healthy College programme and help all services meet the Department of Health ‘You’re Welcome’ standards for young people friendly services.

Figures released by the Office of National Statistics late in February show that the increase in teenage pregnancy rates in the first three quarters of 2007 is due to a rise in unplanned conceptions ending in abortion, and not an increase in teenage mothers giving birth.

However, the under 18 conception rate for the final quarter of 2007 is two per cent lower than the same quarter in 2006 – suggesting that the drive to reduce teenage conceptions is continuing in the right direction.

Where there have been rises, and given these have resulted in abortions not births, this suggests that young people are not accessing effective contraception and may be engaging in more risky behaviour – pointing to the need for better advice and information about sex and relationships both from their parents and in schools.

Young people say they would prefer advice from parents and that’s why the government has invested in support for parents to help them talk more openly to their children.

The government has already announced its intention to make Sex and Relationship Education (SRE) compulsory as part of Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE), and all schools will be provided with new SRE guidance this September.

Evidence shows that where the government’s teenage pregnancy strategy is implemented rigorously, significant reductions in teenage pregnancy rates have been achieved, such as in Oldham where rates have dropped by 29 per cent.