Bid to cut teen pregnancies (From This is Hampshire)

Bid to cut teen pregnancies

1:50pm Sunday 19th July 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

HEALTH drop-in sessions offering pregnancy testing and condom distribution are due to start in September at Andover’s Winton School in an attempt to cut the rate of teenage pregnancies.

The sessions will be held every lunchtime at the school with the aim of addressing an increase of nearly three per cent in teenage pregnancies in Test Valley.

Members of Test Valley Borough Council’s overview and scrutiny committee heard this week that the increase in the borough bucked an 8.7 per cent reduction in England and a 6.7 per cent reduction in Hampshire between 1998 and 2006.

The rate of under-18 pregnancies per thousand of the population in Test Valley rose from 29.7 between 1998 and 2000 to 30.6 between 2004 and 2006. In Andover’s St Mary’s the rate is 79.4; Alamein 67.3; Over Wallop 61.9; Winton 36.3; Millway 35.8; and in Amport it is 35.2.

Committee members heard that sexual advice would continue to be provided at the Askalot shop on King Arthur’s Way, although a town-based drop-in centre is being considered.

In addition the Family Links Nurturing Project, run by Andover Family Learning at the Longmeadow Centre, is a parenting course run three times a year. Each course lasts ten weeks and has crèche facilities.

For more information email enquiries@andoveraflcentre.co.uk or visit .andoveraflcentre.co.uk.

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)