MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY The Aotearoa New Zealand moblisation of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty more >>

Report calls on government to act now on youth sexual health

30 March 2007

A hard-hitting report from the cross-party New Zealand Parliamentarians’ Group on Population and Development (NZPPD) calls for the government to act now to prioritise youth sexual and reproductive health.

Entitled Youth Sexual Health: “Our Health, Our Issue”, the report is the result of an open hearing held in December last year which gave ministries, NGOs and health professionals an opportunity to speak frankly to MPs about sexual and reproductive health issues for youth in New Zealand.

NZZPD Chair Steve Chadwick said the decision to hold the hearing was based on a need to look at this key area for young people, particularly in the context of New Zealand having the second highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the OECD and high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among youth.

In 2006, the fertility rate for teenagers in New Zealand was 28.4 per 1000 women aged 15 to 19 years old. Only the United States has a worse teenage fertility rate, of 45 pregnancies per 1000 women aged 15 to 19 years old.

“For a number of complex reasons, many related to social and economic disadvantage, Maori have the highest teenage fertility rates, followed by Pacific women and then Pakeha women,” Ms Chadwick said.

“We know from research that a number of these teenage pregnancies are unplanned, and there is still much work to be done to address this, beginning with a whole of government approach and commitment to comprehensive sexuality education, open communication and access to health services.”

Overseas experience shows that it is possible to put measures in place that lead to a drop in teenage pregnancy rates, Ms Chadwick said.

In the United Kingdom, a Teenage Pregnancy Strategy introduced in 1999 has been followed by a fall in the rate of teenage motherhood of 15 per cent for those under 16 years of age, and the fall in conception rates for those under 18 years is similar.

At the launch of the report on 3 April, the Secretary-General of the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education, Katarina Lindahl, will speak about the Swedish experience with youth sexual and reproductive health. Sweden’s teenage fertility rate is a third of New Zealand’s, at below 10 per 1000 women aged 15 to 19.

The report’s recommendations include:

• The Ministry of Health must prioritise sexual and reproductive health, and it is essential that it becomes one of the key population health objectives of the New Zealand Health Strategy.
• Develop a cross-agency teenage pregnancy strategy.
• Young people need consistent and comprehensive sexuality and relationships education in both schools and non-educational settings, delivered by trained specialist teachers or facilitators. Government must prioritise sexuality and relationships education, and ensure that all schools deliver comprehensive programmes.
• Develop and fund an Integrated Youth health Service Model to include school-based services, community services and mobile services. Every school should have a paid nurse able to offer sexual and reproductive health services.
• Sexual assault care must be adequately funded and resourced. A database of counsellors and related services for young people should be developed.
• Introduce a target to reduce the number of abortions being carried out in the second trimester, and make safe medical methods of abortion available as an option for women.
• Multiple strategies are needed to improve the sexual and reproductive health of young Maori, including a Government-wide approach, increased “by Maori for Maori” clinical services and better access to kaupapa Maori sexual and reproductive health training and information.
• Pacific views on sexual health issues and fa’a Samoa and other Pacific-specific ways of working, need to be incorporated into policy development on sexual and reproductive health services. Young Pacific people need access to culturally appropriate education and information, and sexual and reproductive health services.
• A range of support for young parents is needed, including teen parent units, financial assistance and incentives to continue their education, and increased benefit levels and extended assistance at a younger age.

ENDS

>> Download the report (pdf)

Did you know that every minute around the world...
•	one woman dies from complications of pregnancy and childbirth.
•	10 teenage girls undergo an unsafe abortion.
•	13 infants under 12 months die
•	57 people catch an STI
•	11 people are infected with HIV
•	the population increases by 150 people

Family Planning Saves Lives.  Click here to find out more.   Click here for the latest headlines in International Family Planning, Population, Reproductive Health and the Environment.