Borough's sex education is booming (From Warrington Guardian)

Borough's sex education is booming

SEXUAL health training for teachers, doctors and youth workers has been working well in Widnes.

They've been learning how to help young people cope with their concerns around pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Like the rest of the north west, Halton has a high rate of teenage pregnancies.

Young people were concerned they wouldn't be able to get help confidentially - and professionals like schoolteachers weren't sure what to do if they were asked to help.

The training courses, held last week in the corporate training centre in Victoria Square, Widnes are designed to give these professionals the knowledge and confidence they lacked.

Thanks to training like this and practical work like putting cheap condom machines in colleges, the teen pregnancy rate in Halton has gone down by more than 20 per cent over the past three years.

The training is being carried out by teenage pregnancy team from Halton Primary Care Trust.

For copies of The Guide, a handbook for young people in Halton, email sioban.simcock@halton-pct.nhs.uk.

For information on sexual health, visit the popular website www.ruthinking.co.uk or phone Sex Wise on 0800 282 930.