Sexual Disease among under-16s up 9-fold in 4 years
Pastor Dale Morgan
Sexual Disease among under-16s up 9-fold in 4 years*
'Lot of evidence' shows even if condoms always used disease can still be
transmitted
Posted: January 12, 2008
London health experts say something needs to be done beyond making
condoms available to lower the number of children with sexually
transmitted diseases, because the handouts from school nurses just
aren't doing the work.
"There is … a lot of evidence to show that even if condoms are used all
the time the disease can still be transmitted. We need to focus on
better sexual education that involves parents, not just the school
nurse," Trevor Stammers, a physician and healthcare ethics lecturer,
told the London Evening Standard.
He said the government's dedication to contraception should be reconsidered.
"These figures are astounding and show we need to focus more on
discouraging young teenagers from having intercourse too early. Not only
is underage sex illegal, it is unhealthy and dangerous," he said. "The
government is not discouraging children from making their sexual debut
and the areas where the disease is most prevalent are where there is the
most deprivation."
His comments to the newspaper came after health officials came out with
confirmation that chlamydia is affecting up to one in 10 sexually active
young people in the British study area.
The report said the number of cases of Chlamydia among under-16s in
London has risen ninefold in four years.
Figures reveal some primary care health services have diagnosed more
than 20 times as many cases among underage girls last year than just
four years ago.
The newspaper said the report confirmed the biggest increase was in
Lewisham, where the number of confirmed cases rocketed from 46 in
2003-2004 to 332 in 2006-2007.
Experts attribute the rise in the disease, which can lead to
infertility, to an absence of warnings about the dangers of underage
sex, the newspaper said.