Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the United Kingdom at ICPD+10

Abstract

At the mid-point of the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, we reviewed the situation in the UK in key areas. In recent years, greater attention has been paid to sexual health at a national policy level, including strategies on teenage pregnancy and sexual health, but there is still a long way to go. The law against female genital mutilation has been strengthened, twice as many men attend family planning clinics as ten years ago, access to abortion services funded by the National Health Service has improved substantially, up to 80% of contraceptive advice and care is accessed through general practice, a national screening programme for chlamydia is being rolled out, the age of consent has been equalised for men and women and for heterosexuals and homosexuals, and new recommended standards for sexual health and HIV services have been developed. However, many family planning services do not involve young men, waiting times for an abortion are too long, the abortion law has never been extended to Northern Ireland, and there are rising rates of STIs and HIV. Rapid improvements in sexuality education, training and improved resources for family planning and abortion providers and the re-introduction of national public information campaigns about all aspects of sexual health are all required.