Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is he taking to increase awareness of the reproductive and sexual health implications for young people presenting symptoms that may lead to unplanned or medically complex pregnancies.

Dedicated local authority sexual health services (SHSs) play a key public health role in the diagnosis, early treatment, and management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and some contraception services. Individual local authorities are responsible for funding and commissioning decisions about the SHSs that best meet the needs of their local populations, including for young people. This is funded via the ringfenced Public Health Grant.

The National Health Service website provides comprehensive information on sexual and reproductive health, including contraceptive choices, STI symptoms, treatment, and complications. This includes information on pregnancy where applicable.

The Government’s introduction in 2020 of compulsory Relationships, Sex and Health Education means all pupils are now taught about several areas of health, including menstruation, contraception, fertility, pregnancy, and the menopause. In July 2025 the Department for Education published updated statutory guidance which includes a specific reference to how different sexually transmitted infections are transmitted and how risk can be reduced. The statutory guidance is clear that all young people should be taught factual knowledge around sex, sexual health, and sexuality, set firmly within the context of relationships. By the end of secondary school, they should know about the prevalence of STIs, the short- and long-term impact they can have on those who contract them, and key facts about treatment. They should also know how to counter misinformation, including signposting towards medically accurate information and further advice, and where to access confidential sexual and reproductive health advice and treatment.

The UK Health Security Agency produces several stakeholder communications toolkits which collate communications resources to raise awareness of STIs and sexual health. These are aimed at supporting stakeholders, including local authorities, NHS organisations, integrated care boards, and charities, to promote good sexual health with their audiences, including accessing SHSs. As well as a sexual health specific toolkit, there is sexual health messaging in travel health, festivals, and getting ready for university toolkits.

In addition, the National Chlamydia Screening Programme focuses on reducing the reproductive harms from untreated chlamydia infection in young women and other people with a womb or ovaries.