FINNIE CONCERNED BY HIGH LEVELS OF TEENAGE PREGNANCIES

Written by Ross Finnie on Thu 2nd Jul 2009

FINNIE CONCERNED BY HIGH LEVELS OF TEENAGE PREGNANCIES

West of Scotland Liberal Democrat MSP Ross Finnie is concerned by the high number of teenage pregnancies taking place in Inverclyde.

Provisional figures for 2005/07 show Inverclyde Council had a teenage pregnancy rate in under 16s with 7.6 per 1000 compared to the national level of 7.8 per 1000. Inverclyde Council also had a high rate of teenage pregnancy for under 18s with 36.6 per 1000 compared to the national level of 41.8 per 1000.

Commenting Mr Finnie said:

"Although the levels of teenage pregnancy in Inverclyde are below the national level, the levels in Inverclyde are still concerning.

"The Scottish Government missed a golden opportunity to educate young girls on the dangers of unprotected sex during the cervarix vaccination programme.

"I hope that with the STI rates soaring and high levels of teenage pregnancy the Scottish Government will rethink its approach and provide contraceptive information on the leaflet for the HPV catch up campaign and will also start a comprehensive sex education campaign across Scotland."

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