Monday 17th November 2008 News Index

The Government has written to local councils asking them to prescribe long acting contraceptive injections to reduce the teenage pregnancy rates, according to the Daily Mail. 21 councils in areas of high teenage pregnancies have been written to and the move has attracted plenty of criticism from many quarters.

The government initiative also urges the councils to prioritise school based contraceptive clinics to address the problem in key areas. The jabs are said to be very effective and provide contraception for up to 12 weeks. Whilst they are claimed to be safe, the proposed hormone injections are known to have side effects on adults including heavier periods and mood swings, the fear is that these effects would be more pronounced in teenagers. Controversy over the scheme is predicted to run for some time as most agree there is a problem to be addressed but there is much debate on how it should be addressed.

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