£26.8 Million to improve access to contraception

8 February 2008 in Abortion Contraception, England, Government

Speaking at the launch of a major new charity, the Association for Young People’s Health, Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo announced a £26.8 million drive to improve young people’s access to contraception and help reduce the number of teenage pregnancies.

Latest figures show that 11 per cent of sexually active women do not use any form of contraception; 80 per cent of teenage pregnancies are in 16 and 17 year olds; and the highest rates of abortion are among 20-24 year olds.

Local health teams will therefore be given extra money to work with women of all ages to promote the full range of methods of contraception including Long Acting Reversible Contraception (LARCs) such as implants and IUS (Intrauterine System).

£14 million will be allocated to Strategic Health Authorities for innovative new ways of helping young people get access to sexual health advice and contraception. The ten regional health authorities will be asked to come up with proposals and, if agreed, they could be granted funding to run pilots.

Examples of the way in which the money could be used are:
* offering contraception and more information at abortion clinics to prevent repeat abortions;
* working with health visitors to target vulnerable young women – particularly teenage mothers; and
* condom kiosks in pharmacies.

This money is in addition to the £130 million which has been invested in modernising sexual health clinics and services over the past two years. That investment has seen access to GUM clinics and uptake of HIV tests increase substantially.

Teenage pregnancy rates are at their lowest level for over 20 years. The Teenage Pregnancy Strategy has reversed the previous upward trend and reduced the under 18 conception rate by 11.4 per cent and the under 16 conception rate by 12.1 per cent.

Speaking at the Association of Young People’s Health Conference in London Ms Primarolo said: “There is increasing evidence of the key role contraception plays in preventing teenage pregnancy. We need to use this evidence and improve access to the full range of methods of contraception in many areas, particularly those with high and increasing rates of teenage pregnancy and high rates of abortion. This is just one part of the Government’s strategy on sexual health. We are working to educate young people about the dangers of STIs and will be launching a new national information campaign later in the year on the range of contraceptive choices available to young people.”

Children’s Minister Beverley Hughes said: “Teenage pregnancy rates are falling steadily and are currently at the lowest level for twenty years, but some local areas need to make much faster progress. As international evidence and our Teenage Pregnancy Strategy highlight, improving young people’s access and use of contraception is vital in reducing the number of unplanned pregnancies. This new funding will allow the ten Strategic Health Authorities involved to develop new and innovative ways of engaging and educating young people in safer sexual behaviour. But increasing availability of contraception also needs to be accompanied by good quality sex and relationship education in schools and support for parents to talk to their children about these issues. That is why we are calling on all local authorities to fully implement our tried and tested guidance on tackling teenage pregnancy and for all areas to perform as well as the best.”

---

Notes:
1. £12.8million of this funding will be allocated to Primary Care Trusts in their main allocations. The remaining £14 million will be allocated by the Department of Health, working with Strategic Health Authorities to pilot innovations in service delivery. Service Level Agreements will be put in place with SHAs to agree how the funding should be used. A national evaluation will be commissioned to evaluate all innovative ideas and pilots
2. A new £500,000 campaign will be developed with the Department for Children, Schools and Families to highlight contraceptive choices available to women.
3. The Association for Young People’s Health was launched by Dawn Primarolo. It is a major new charity and membership organisation creating a focus for all professionals and organisations working in the field of young people’s health. It is led by a specialist group including Dr Russell Viner – the only consultant who specialises in adolescent health in the country; Dr John Coleman – the founder of the Trust of the Study of Adolescence; Dr Aidan McFarlane and Dr Anne McPherson – founders of the Teenage Health Freak web-site; Dr Dick Churchill – Lead GP in adolescent health. The Society would have a key role to play in raising the profile of adolescent health and in providing much needed additional support for professionals (both medical and non-medical) in this important area.
4. The Department of Health is providing funding of £100,000 on an annual basis over two years to enable the Society to become a sustainable force for supporting adolescent health
5. The Association will be a key partner in terms of informing policy development (through the involvement of young people and a wide range of professionals) and in continuing to drive forward a focus on adolescent health.
6. Currently available long acting reversible contraception (LARCs) methods include:
* The intrauterine device (IUD)
* Hormonal injection
* Intrauterine system (IUS)
* Contraceptive Implant (Implanon)
The effectiveness of condoms and oral contraceptive pills depends on their correct and consistent use. A NICE guideline was published in 2005 on LARCs. This highlights that all currently available LARC methods do not depend on daily concordance. The guidelines shows that increasing the use of these methods will reduce the number of unintended pregnancies.

http://www.gnn.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=350721&NewsAreaID=2