The Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) says figures for England and Wales show that sexual health among teenagers was improving in the early 1990s.

But since the mid-1990s, it has got progressively worse.

The long-term effects are include cervical cancer, infertility and increased susceptibility to HIV.

Statistics for sexually transmitted disease clinics in 1995 show that 1,024 teenage girls aged between 16 and 19 had contracted gonorrhoea.

Some 4,940 had chlamydia; 1,622 had suffered their first attack of genital herpes and 6,737 had their first attack of genital warts.

The figures for boys were considerably lower.

Consistent pattern

However, by 1996 the numbers had shot up:

• Gonorroheoa was up 34.5% for girls and 31.2% for boys
• Chlamydia was up 16.5% for girls and 17.9% for boys
• Genital herpes (first attack) had risen by 1.5% for girls, but fallen by 2.5% for boys
• Genital warts (first attack) was up 12.2% for girls and 12.8% for boys.

Teenage abortions were up 12.5% and pregnancies were up 4.6% in the same age group.

Writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the researchers say the increases in abortions and pregnancy took place in every health region.

Teenagers had the second highest abortion figures for any age group, after 20 to 24 year olds.

The rise in gonorrhoea, identified as a marker for trends in sexual behaviour, was found in every health region except Anglia and Oxford.

Older age groups also showed an increase in gonorrhoea, but the rate among teenagers was the highest.

The researchers say greater use of sexually transmitted disease clinics could explain some of the rise, but by no means all of it.

The PHLS says 1997 figures show a similar upward trend. Statistics for 1998 are not yet available.

Targeted campaigns

But a spokesman said there was some room for optimism. The USA has worst teenage pregnancy rates than the UK, but has recently shown improvements due to targeted education campaigns.

"They have made a real concerted effort concerning sex education and have targeted young people.

"They have managed to change both attitudes and behaviour," he said.

Some ideas, which are thought to have been considered by the government's social exclusion unit in its forthcoming report on teenage pregnancy, include sex counselling by older teenagers.

The PHLS says it is pleased with government efforts to give a joined-up approach to teenage sexual health.

Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy levels in the EU

But, in a linked editorial in the BMJ, Professor Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, says the statistics on teenage sexual health could be part of "a more fundamental malaise".

They combine with increases in smoking, drinking and drug use, he says, and show the need for a coordinated policy on improving education and parenting for young people.

Britain has the highest rate of illegal drug use in the European Union and high levels of alcohol consumption and smoking.

Education

Professor McKee thinks poor rates of literacy, numeracy and basic skills among young people in Britain could be partly to blame.

And he says many more families live in poverty in the UK, with the gap between rich and poor growing "markedly" in the last 20 years.

He adds that another factor could be that British parents spend less time with their children because of overwork.

Britain has the longest working hours in Europe.

He believes the government's approach up to now has been to deal with each issue individually.

But he welcomed the social exclusion unit's report and the government's willingness to learn from other European countries.

Shadow Health Secretary Ann Widdecombe said: "We have never had so much sex education and free contraception in Britain, yet this study shows we have one of the worst records of sexual health amongst young people.

"We will be much better off promoting an atmosphere in which young people are encouraged to consider whether or not they should be sexually active at a relatively early age at all, rather than instructing them in the hows, whys and whens."

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The original of this article can be found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_343000/343062.stm.

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