A HIGH-PROFILE campaign to promote safe sex among teenagers has been branded a failure after it emerged two schoolgirls fall pregnant in the Lothians every week.
Nearly 700 girls aged 15 or yo
unger became pregnant in the region during the past six years, according to new figures released to the Evening News.
The yearly total has dropped only slightly over the period, despite a series of initiatives to tackle the problem - such as giving free condoms to children under 16 and handing out the morning-after pill to schoolgirls without parental knowledge.
The new figures show teenage pregnancies in the Lothians were highest in more deprived areas, such as Gilmerton, Gracemount, the EH4 area covering Muirhouse and the EH11 area, which includes Stenhouse and Sighthill.
There was also a high number of pregnancies among young girls in Bathgate and the Livingston area, where Britain's youngest mum became pregnant at 11.
West Lothian has one of Scotland's highest rate of pregnancies among young teens, and experts said today that becoming a young mother is seen as a "life option" in some socially excluded areas.
The breakdown for the Lothians, released through the Freedom of Information Act, also shows more than 1300 teenagers aged 16-to-19 were pregnant last year, on top of the 105 girls aged 15 or younger. In 1994, just 39 girls aged 15 and younger became pregnant.
Tory health spokeswoman Mary Scanlon today said the recent range of initiatives are "obviously not working".
She said: "A lot of taxpayers' money has been spent on initiatives and education, including increasing the availability of the morning-after pill. It's time for NHS Lothian to listen to teenage girls who became pregnant, and find out why this is happening - is it by choice, or is it by accident?"
A controversial Healthy Respect pilot scheme was established in 2001 in the Lothians, which involved setting up centres where teenagers can go for advice on sexual health.
The scheme, which has so far received £5 million of Scottish Government funding, also gives condoms and the morning-after pill to young people.
But Peter Kearney, a spokesman for the Catholic Church, said: "The fact there has been no significant decrease [in teenage pregnancies] after huge amounts of money has been spent on initiatives shows there is clear need to change tack. There is a lot of evidence that suggests the wide range of sexual health services out there has actually led to an increase in sexual activity."
However, Linda Birnie, a centre manager with sexual health advice charity Brook, said more help and advice was the way forward. She said: "There must be more investment in evidence-based sex and relationships education, information for young people, and access to free and confidential contraceptive services."
Rebecca Findlay, spokeswoman for the Family Planning Association, added: "The statistics show the highest number of pregnancies are in socially excluded areas, where being a young mother is seen as a life option."
The number of schoolgirl pregnancies in the Lothians peaked in 2003 at 123, and has declined marginally since then. In Edinburgh, in postcode areas where more than five pregnancies were reported, numbers have dropped from 53 to 34 last year.
Dona Milne, Healthy Respect manager for NHS Lothian, said: "While it appears that the rate of pregnancies involving young women under the age of 16 has remained relatively stable at a very low rate, we are pleased the figures are lower than 2003 and are moving in the right direction."
A city council spokeswoman said: "Early intervention is crucial to ensure young people have a healthy attitude to relationships from a young age and primary schools all work with parents to ensure they have an age appropriate progressive programme."
A Scottish Government spokeswoman added: "Our message for safer sexual health is: delay until you are ready, but be safe when you are active."
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