Sex lessons in primary school 'would cut teen pregnancies'

Published on Wednesday 9 July 2008 21:46

LESSONS about sex and relationships should start in primary school to try to tackle sexually transmitted infections and teenage pregnancies, doctors said yesterday.

Emily Finnigan, from the BMA's southern division, said sex and relationships played a big part in people living a healthy life.

"I feel it is preposterous that we do not adequately prepare our young people for this," she said. "Sex education needs to be comprehensive, covering everything from relationships to contraception and STIs."

She said starting in primary school was considered controversial, but it was necessary.

However, Dr Shreelata Datta, from the BMA's junior doctors' committee, said: "Are we really calling for children as young as the age of four to have sex education as part of their curriculum, alongside the alphabet?"

Despite such concerns, doctors narrowly backed the idea of sex education in primary schools with 54.6 per cent in favour.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "While sex education is not a formal part of the early years curriculum, a curriculum framework for children aged three to five places emotional, personal and social development at the centre of children's development and learning."

Meanwhile, the conference heard calls for more guidance for doctors on complementary therapies, such as homeopathy and reflexology.

The BMA backed a move to ensure such therapies were properly regulated, and to ask the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence to examine homeopathy and recommend whether it should still be funded by the NHS.