Government moves which could see health professionals compelled to report all sexual activity among underage teenagers to social workers and police risk a "massive increase" in teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, ministers are warned today.
The sexual health charity Brook says taking away the right to confidential sexual health advice would be "disastrous" for many teenagers, whom it argues will simply avoid asking for contraception or pregnancy advice if they think their inquiry will be passed on.
In a survey conducted by the charity, almost three quarters of young people under 16 said they would be less likely to seek advice if information might be passed to social workers, while 62% said confidentiality was the single most important thing for them when seeking advice on sexual health matters.
Brook today launches a campaign, "Wise up! Your rights on sexual health", to inform young people and seek to uphold the right to confidentiality. The campaign is backed by organisations including the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Nursing and the National Youth Agency. A government consultation, due to close at the end of this month, on a document called Working Together to Safeguard Children is examining whether health and youth workers should be obliged to share information on youngsters engaging in under-age sex, regardless of the circumstances.
Ministers are reviewing the issue in the wake of the Bichard inquiry into the Soham murders, which recommended the government should produce national guidance to inform decisions on whether underage sexual activity should be referred to the police.
Guidance requiring information sharing has already been adopted in some areas of the country, including London, under local protocols, even though it runs counter to advice currently issued by the Department of Health and teenage pregnancy unit.
Professional codes and current government guidance state that health professionals have a duty of confidentiality to patients, including to those under 16, that should be breached only in exceptional circumstances.
However, supporters of a move to mandatory sharing of information say it would help protect sexually active children from harm and abuse.
They also point to the fact that teenage pregnancy rates, though down since 1997 amid a multi-million pound government campaign, are still the highest in western Europe and are not falling fast enough to hit ministers' target of halving the under 18 conception rate by 2010.
