Welcome

Welcome to the website for teenage pregnancy and sexual health professionals.

This site is designed to be a resource to help you find out more about the campaign "Sex. Worth Talking About", access campaign resource materials and share examples of relevant work. The website is hosted by the Department of Health (DH), the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP).

About the campaign

Launched on November 30 2009, by the DH and DCSF, "Sex. Worth Talking About" is a new campaign that will help young people to make more informed choices about contraception, look after their sexual health and avoid unwanted pregnancies. The campaign will demonstrate how easy, everyday and normal it is to have discussions about contraception between partners, parents and health care professionals.

Contraception Worth Talking About

The first strand of the campaign, "Contraception. Worth Talking About" was launched on Monday 30 November, running across TV, radio, digital and magazine media. The campaign focuses on raising awareness and trust in the full range of contraception choices – particularly the new and more effective long acting methods which many people are unaware of.

Chlamydia Worth Talking About

The second strand of the campaign "Chlamydia. Worth Talking About" is based on tackling chlamydia and launched on January 8 2010 using a similar range of TV, radio, and digital channels. The campaign highlights the potential infertility that untreated chlamydia cases can cause, that chlamydia is spreading, is symptomless, but is easy and painless to diagnose and treat.

For information specifically relating to chlamydia, please visit the NCSP professional website to access a range of helpful resources and case studies of best practice.

Research and evidence

International evidence from countries like the Netherlands highlights the role of creating open and honest discussion and building a culture that frames sexual behaviour among young people as a normal part of their development. This suggests a broader cultural change could play an important role in tackling teenage pregnancy and poor sexual health in England. These concepts have helped to underpin the Sex. Worth Talking About campaign.

For further insights into the rationale behind the campaign, read the campaign strategy or campaign strategy executive summary or watch the videos from the campaign launch event in November 2009 below.

Consumer campaigns have an important role to play in the wider teenage pregnancy and sexual health strategies which have combined to deliver a decline in teenage pregnancies.