30th November 2012

Dear colleague

Please find below information regarding:

• 1. National HIV Testing Week
• 2. Publication of the Under 18 Conception Rates - Quarter 3, 2011

1. National HIV Testing Week

Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS Medical Director sent the attached email to Medical Directors on Friday about National HIV Testing Week and urging all doctors to be alert to the need to offer an HIV test to patients presenting with possible symptoms or at increased risk of HIV. (Sexual health team contact is Kay Orton [email protected])

http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/11/hiv-diagnosis/

2. Publication of the Under 18 Conception Rates - Quarter 3, 2011

The under 18 conception data third quarter 2011 was released by Office of National Statistics today.

For more details on the under-18 conception data and a breakdown on regional and local authority data, see the links below:

a) Quarterly LAD 1 under-I8 conception rates - a break down of the Q3 data by Local Authority and quarterly trends since 1998
b) Q3, 2011 data headlines

The rates for England have been calculated using the mid-year 2011 population estimates based on the 2011 Census and the interim 2011-based 2012 population projections. This means that the March and June 2011 rates have been revised using these census populations, so will differ from those previously published.

The link to the ONS website can be accessed here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/quart-conc-to-women-und-18/index.html

Third quarter 2011 conception data: national and regional headlines

Under -16 and under-18

• The rate of under-18 conceptions was 29.4 per 1000 girls aged 15-17 – 9.8% lower than the rate of 32.6 for the third quarter of 2010. For under-18 conceptions, the rolling four quarterly average continues to fall and is at its lowest since quarterly data collection began. (See figure 1 in appendix.)
• The rate of under-16 conceptions was 5.8 per 1000 girls aged 13-15 – 4.9% lower than the rate of 6.1 for the third quarter of 2010. The under-16 rolling four quarterly average continues to fall and is at its lowest since quarterly data collection began. (See figure 2 in appendix.)
• The number of under-18 conceptions was 7,000, down from 7,600 in the third quarter of 2010. The number of conceptions for under 16s was 1,400, equalling the number for the third quarter of 2010.
• The proportion of conceptions leading to abortion for under-18 conceptions was 48.5%, down from 48.9% in the third quarter of 2010. The proportion of conceptions leading to abortion for under-16 conceptions was 61.0%, down from 61.3% in the third quarter of 2010.

Across all regions the rolling quarterly average under -18 conception rate is at its lowest level since the start of quarterly data records in 1998.

London: The rate of under-18 conceptions fell by 15% from Q3 2010. The rolling quarterly average shows a continuing decline in conception rates.

North East: The rate of under-18 conceptions fell by 15% from Q3 2010. The rolling quarterly average shows a continuing decline in conception rates.

South East: The rate of under-18 conceptions fell by 1% from Q3 2010. The rolling quarterly average remains unchanged from Q2 2011.

Yorkshire and Humber: The rate of under-18 conceptions fell by 15% from Q3 2010. The rolling quarterly average shows a continuing decline in conception rates.

South West: The rate of under-18 conceptions fell by 8% from Q3 2010. The rolling quarterly average shows a continuing decline in conception rates.

North West: The rate of under-18 conceptions fell by 12% from Q3 2010. The rolling quarterly average shows a continuing decline in conception rates.

East Midlands: The rate of under-18 conception decreased by 12% from Q3 2010. The rolling quarterly average shows a continuing decline in conception rates.

West Midlands: The rate of under-18 conceptions decreased by 15% from Q3 2010. The rolling quarterly average conception rate has fallen over the last eight quarters.

East of England: The rate of under-18 conceptions decreased by 0.4% from Q3 2010. The rolling quarterly average remains unchanged from Q2 2011.

For any questions about the data please contact Kiran Egan: [email protected]

PLEASE NOTE – The attached LAD 1 spreadsheet will no longer be provided by DfE for future under 18 conception releases. We will prepare a brief data note on different data sources available to monitor the progress on reducing teenage conceptions at a local level. We will send the data note out to Teenage Pregnancy Coordinators and others in December.

Denise Davis
PA to Andrea Duncan and Colin Pavelin
Health Science and Bioethics Division
Department of Health | Wellington House | 133-155 Waterloo Road | London SE1 8UG