Chiefs can’t curb teen pregnancies

9:10am Tuesday 18th March 2008

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HEALTH chiefs in Bexley say they are disappointed efforts to reduce teenage pregnancies in the borough have only achieved minimal success.

Figures from the Department for Children, Schools and Families show the pregnancy rates among young people aged 15 to 17 per 1,000 population, dropped only 0.7 per cent between 1998 and 2006, the latest year for which figures are available.

This compares with drops of 15 per cent in Lewisham , 9.7 per cent in Greenwich and six per cent in Bromley.

There were 172 teenage pregnancies in Bexley in 2006, compared with 164 in 2005 and 145 in 1998.

Although the number of actual pregnancies has risen, the rate has fallen because the number of 15 to 17-year-olds in the population has increased.

Bexley Care Trust's Peter Buck, who chairs Bexley's teenage pregnancy partnership, says there is a particular problem in the Slade Green and Erith areas, where rates are close to those in inner London.

He said: "This is largely linked to levels of deprivation in those areas."

To try and counter the problem, Mr Buck said any initiatives, such as the free provision of the morning-after pill, are always launched in those areas first - "because we recognise the need is greater".

Mr Buck said: "We have also commissioned a review of our strategy and are targeting young people to talk to.

"We are asking the review to provide specific recommendations for that area."

He added: "We have reviewed what has worked in other boroughs, to use in Bexley.

"We are working more closely with the borough's youth service and training youth workers on how to talk about sex and relationships with young people."

The borough also has nine youth advisory clinics, two of them in Connexions offices, where all the staff are trained to work with young people.

Young girls are being encouraged to use contraception such as injections and the partnership is also working with parents to boost their confidence in discussing sex with their children.

Mr Buck said: "We are disappointed with the figures, but overall we think the trend is downward."