Women's Views on News |
| Conception and abortion figures Posted: 14 Jun 2016 01:43 PM PDT
A strategy to lower the rate of teenage pregnancies in England has seen the numbers halved since it was launched in 2000, according to a new study published in The Lancet. Conception rates in women younger than 18 years fell by 51 per cent between 1998 and 2014. The rate had declined steadily from its peak in 1996 to 1998 and more rapidly from 2007 onwards, according to the study findings. The 10-year Teenage Pregnancy Strategy was launched in 2000 in England to reduce conceptions in women younger than 18 years and social exclusion in young parents. The study team used routinely collected data and data from Britain’s National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal) to examine progress towards the strategy’s goals. The team found that a sustained, multifaceted policy intervention involving health and education agencies, alongside other social and educational changes, has probably contributed to a substantial and accelerating decline in conceptions in women younger than 18 years in England since the late 1990s. Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) spokesperson and chair of the British Fertility Society Professor Adam Balen said: 'We welcome this positive news that the rates of teenage pregnancy have halved since 1999, particularly in areas with the highest deprivation. 'It is particularly promising that the sustained efforts on access to education and reliable contraception have been key to this achievement. He added that the most recent data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the under-18 conception rates for 2014 was the lowest since 1969 at 22.9 conceptions per thousand women aged 15 to 17. However, he said that further reductions are still needed to bring them in line with other high-income countries, such as Scandinavia and the Netherlands. 'Sex and Relationships Education plays a vital role in providing young people with skills and information to negotiate relationships, protect their sexual health and prevent unplanned pregnancy. 'It is just as important not to lose sight of the other aspects of good sexual healthcare, crucially, the need for better STI prevention and access to safe abortion care. 'Access to a full range of reversible contraception and sexual health services remains critical to improving young people's health and wellbeing.' To read the study, click here. There has been very slight rise in the number of abortions in England and Wales, according to the latest statistics released by the Department of Health recently. The 2015 figures show that 185,824 abortions to residents of England and Wales took place. The abortions to residents represents a rate of 16 per 1000 women, aged 15 to 44. This is a 0.6 per cent rise on the 2014 figure of 15.9 per 1000 women and 6.4 per cent lower than in 2005. The statistics show that the abortion rate was highest for women aged 21, at 28.7 per 1000 women. The highest rate in the previous year had been 22 year-olds at 28.5 per 1000. The under-16 and under-18 abortion rates were both lower than in 2014. Last year, the under-16 rate was 2 per 1000 individuals compared to 2.5 in 2014. The under-18 rate was 9.9 per 1000, down from 11.1 per 1000 women the previous year. The figures also showed that 92 per cent of abortions were carried out at under 13 weeks' gestation and 80 per cent were at under 10 weeks. Two per cent of abortions were carried out because of the risk that the child would be born 'seriously handicapped'. To read this report, click here.  |
| EU referendum: both sides misleading us Posted: 14 Jun 2016 05:06 AM PDT
A group of over 200 academics have signed an open letter in the Telegraph to criticise the deliberate misinformation circulated by campaigners on both sides of the Brexit debate, and express serious concerns about the effects on the public’s ability to make an informed choice on 23 June. The letter was co-ordinated by referendum expert Dr Alan Renwick, Deputy Director of the UCL Constitution Unit, and his colleagues, and has been signed by academics in politics, constitutional law, economics and beyond from universities across the UK. A full list of signatories is given below, and the letter remains open for other academics to add their names. The full text is as follows: ‘A referendum result is democratically legitimate only if voters can make an informed decision. Yet, the level of misinformation in the current campaign is so great that democratic legitimacy is called into question. ‘Both sides are making misleading claims. ‘Their official communications have been dropping through letter boxes – at taxpayers' expense – in recent days. ‘Vote Leave's leaflet purports to offer "The Facts", yet leads with the claim that EU membership costs the UK £350 million a week – repeatedly exposed by independent authorities as a blatant falsehood. ‘The Remain leaflet begins by saying that "over 3 million UK jobs are linked to our exports to the EU". Though this is in line with independent analyses, not all these jobs would go in the event of Brexit. ‘Propagating falsehoods, with support from the public purse, distorts the public communication upon which democracy depends. ‘When the dust from this referendum settles, we must review means of strengthening campaign truthfulness without curtailing legitimate free speech. ‘In the short term, broadcasters and the media must focus more fearlessly on challenging deliberate misinformation from both sides. ‘Impartial fact-checkers – at the BBC, Channel 4, Full Fact, the UK in a Changing Europe initiative, and elsewhere – are doing excellent work, but are receiving insufficient attention. ‘As the campaign draws to a close, an informed public decision true to the values of British democracy depends on a change of tone.’ You can see all the signatories to the letter here. The public letter follows earlier interventions by Dr Renwick, including a blogpost and BBC TV appearance (at 08.55), drawing attention to the lack of regulation of campaign claims in the referendum. He pointed out that some other countries have official bodies which regulate referendum campaign truthfulness. In contrast, Britain’s EU referendum has seen misinformation circulated to every household with support from the public purse. The academic letter calls for this situation to be reviewed after the referendum, but also for a more determined focus by media outlets on truthfulness in the closing week. Dr Renwick said: ”This referendum asks voters to make one of the most important decisions in the UK's democratic history. ”But the cacophony of misinformation – including that coming from the official campaigns – means many voters are likely to base their choice on beliefs about the effects of EU membership or Brexit that are simply wrong. ”That subverts the whole democratic purpose of the referendum and could be a tragedy for the country's future.” The UCL Constitution Unit has held a series of events on the constitutional consequences of Brexit, seeking to provide objective evidence-based debate to inform decision-making. These were supported by the UK in a Changing Europe initiative, which has sought to do the same more broadly during the campaign. On 16 June at 6pm the Constitution Unit hosts a major debate ‘To Remain or to Leave?’, with four leading speakers whose claims will be checked by an expert academic panel. The main speakers are Chuka Umunna and Laura Sandys (for Remain) and Jacob Rees Mogg and Peter Whittle (for Leave). The event will be live web cast here. The chair of the event Professor Meg Russell, Director of the Constitution Unit, said: “From the outset we have planned our UCL debate to encourage sound evidence-based claims from the two sides of the campaign which are objectively checked by experts in order that the audience receives reliable information. "It is a shame that this same principle has not applied to the wider referendum campaign.”  |
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