Teenage Pregnanacy Rates Drop To All-time Low Due To The Nationwide Teenage Pregnancy Strategy

The Teenage Pregnancy Strategy that was launched 17 years ago in England helped in bringing down the under-18 conception rate in England to a great extent. In fact, the number of teenagers getting pregnant has almost halved since the inception of the Government's Teenage Pregnancy Strategy (TPS) program in the year 1999 that got published in The Lancet as per the latest research conducted to prove the long-term effects of the nationwide strategy.

According to the primary author, Professor Kaye Wellings from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, "England's under-18 conception rate has fallen to its lowest level since the 1970s. What's more, progress has been made towards halting the cycle of inequality that has long been associated with teenage pregnancy." The Teenage Pregnancy Strategy comprised of several aspects, namely, the high-quality sex and relationship-related education and youth-friendly contraceptive services along with a collaborated action both at the government and local level as well, Mirror reported.

According to Independent, the local implementation grants were done according to the teenage pregnancy rates in every single area of England. Data were collected from almost 148 local authority areas in England to carry out a thorough research. Regarding under-18 pregnancies, abortions, as well as birth rates within the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy in five years, i.e. just before (1994-1998) and post-strategy (2009-2013) implementation program was taken into consideration.

Observations included a steep decline in the under-18 conception rate from 1998 till 2006 whereas the rate dropped from 47 to lesser than 25 between 1998 and 2013. This came as a great matter of relief as per Professor Adam Balen of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and Chair of the British Fertility Society (BFS) as well. He also pointed out that this development was acuter in the most deprived areas and that the education facilities and reliable contraception methods were the key factors behind this whole positive outcome.