Morning-after pill to be offered to 11-year-olds

January 12 2007
Andrew Wander - icSouthLondon

KIDS as young as 11 are being offered the morning-after pill from school in a bid to cut teenage pregnancy.

Lambeth council is piloting a project at two secondaries.

Free pregnancy tests are also available.

Drop-in clinics have been set up at Stockwell Park School and the Park Centre in West Norwood as part of the scheme already set up in 13 schools across the country in November.

The clinics, run by specialist family planning nurses,offer students emergency contraception and pregnancy testing as well as advice and information about sexual matters.

It is hoped the scheme will help reduce the borough's rate of teenage pregnancy,which is one of the highest in the country.

The latest figures show one in 10 girls become pregnant before the age of 18.

Health chiefs also want to reduce the number of teenagers who contract sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as chlamydia and gonorrhoea.

Lambeth's public health director, Ruth Wallis, said: "We have put the reduction in the teenage pregnancy rate and the improvement in the sexual health of young people among our top priorities."

And the council has supported the move.

Sam Townend, deputy cabinet member for young people, said: "Teenage pregnancy rates in the borough have been very high.

"We hope that this will prove an effective way to tackle the problem."

If the initiative is successful, council chiefs say that other schools in the borough could start offering similar services.

The latest figures show the level of STIs has shot up by 12 per cent in the UK. London has one of the highest levels of infection. The major STIs include HIV/Aids, gonorrhoea, syphilis, chlamydia, genital herpes and genital warts.