Teen pregnancies fall to record low in England

Teenage pregnancies have reached a record low in England, suggesting that a national strategy to improve sex education and health services for young people in areas of greatest deprivation has been effective, a study shows.1

In 1999 the government launched a 10 year nationwide teenage pregnancy strategy to reduce conception rates in women under 18, which were much higher in the United Kingdom than in other western European countries. The programme included a national media campaign and improvements in sex education and young people’s sexual health services, with greater support for the local authority areas with the highest teen pregnancy rates.

Researchers …