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Opinion,
Comment & Reviews
Contraception |
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Teenage
sexual health and sex education
By Maxine Lattimer
The government's Social Exclusion Unit is due to publish a
report on tackling teenage pregnancy very soon. Family planning
and 'family values' groups alike are keen to see the content
of the report. However, it seems to have been delayed indefinitely
and this has led to media discussion and speculation on the
issue. One such story arose from a Public Health Laboratory
Service report in the British Medical Journal, which claimed
that British teenagers have the worst sexual health in Western
Europe. Dr Angus Nicoll and colleagues from the PHLS said
there was "substantial sexual ill-health" among young people.
The report said that girls aged 16-19 in England and Wales
had higher rates of gonorrhoea, genital warts and chlamydia
than any other group of women and the second highest rate
of herpes. It claimed that the incidence of gonorrhoea had
increased by a third in teenagers between 1995 and 1996.
They conceded that there is no accurate way of comparing levels
of sexual disease across Europe but said that teenage pregnancy
is a good indicator. According to the report, British girls
also have the highest teenage pregnancy rates, high abortion
levels and are more likely to use drugs than many of their
European counterparts. One abortion in five involves a teenage
girl and 9 per cent of births are to teenagers. In 1996 there
were 86,174 teenage pregnancies, of which more than 30,000
resulted in abortions. Abortions among girls under 16 rose
by 14.5 per cent between 1995 and 1996 and by 12.5 per cent
in teenagers aged 16-19. Britain's teenage pregnancy rate
is seven times as high as Holland, four times that of France
and twice the German level. Dr Nicoll said: "There is a major
burden of sexual ill-health amongst young people in this country
that is going to leave a legacy of infertility, cancer of
the cervix and unwanted pregnancy." A spokeswoman for the
Department of Health said: "The Government takes this issue
very seriously and has set up an integrated approach to tackle
the problem." But still no Social Exclusion Unit report.
The reporting of the PHLS claims led to calls from family
planning campaigners for sex education to be taught in primary
schools. Dr Evan Harris, Liberal Democrat spokesman on health,
who introduced a Private Member's Bill last week to provide
earlier sex education for all children, said: "This research
proves everything that I have been saying about the appalling
level of young people's sexual health in Britain." And a spokeswoman
for the Brook Advisory Centre service, which provides family
planning for youngsters, said: "One of the major problems
is the lack of sex education in this country compared to the
rest of Europe. "People who complain that we have had sex
education in this country for 30 years and that it has not
made a difference don't know what sex education is like in
our schools. "There is no education at primary level and in
secondary schools it is just about biology and how to make
a baby." She added: "What we need is good sex education from
primary age up, with lessons on how to cope with emotions,
relationships and certain situations. "We also need to convince
teenagers that they can have access to confidential family
planning services so they can prevent pregnancy and sexual
disease."
These calls produced the usual response from the likes of
Valerie Riches from Family and Youth Concern and Ann Widdecombe,
Shadow Health Secretary. Valerie Riches said: "The problem
is society itself, which is crumbling, and the media and other
campaigners who are sending false messages to young people.
"We have had sex education for many years and for many years
it has not worked. "This is because young people cannot cope
with the information they are being given - they get the message
that they can have sex, but they cannot process the information
about prevention and cause and effect. "We need to have a
complete reversal of the current situation and do what they
are doing in some parts of the US, where teenagers are taught
that complete abstinence is absolutely vital to prevent unwanted
pregnancies and diseases, and also for their emotional development."
Ann Widdecombe commented: "We have never had so much sex education
and free contraception in Britain, yet this study shows we
have one of the worst records of sexual health amongst young
people. "We will be much better off promoting an atmosphere
in which young people are encouraged to consider whether or
not they should be sexually active at a relatively early age
at all, rather than instructing them in the hows, whys and
whens. "
We are all still waiting for the SEU report to come out with
its recommendations. One thing is clear, if the government
really want to make a difference it must come off the fence
and support not just sex education, but sexual health services
for young people, including abortion. With an issue like this
there can be no 'middle ground'. The government can either
line up with the likes of Family and Youth Concern and the
Daily Mail readers who think teenagers having sex is a problem.
Or they can support those who accept that teenage sex is normal
part of modern life and instead argue for more and better
services. |
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