POLICY & PRACTICE: Soapbox - Young people must know their sexualhealth matters

Way back in 1999, two pilot screening programmes set up in England by the Government showed as many as one in 10 young women under 25 were infected with chlamydia. Many health and youth workers went to considerable effort to raise awareness about chlamydia and other STIs by embarking on local campaigns.

Four years on, you might imagine this serious threat to young people's health would have been comprehensively tackled. Not so. The screening programme so urgently needed is being slowly implemented because of the familiar refrain of a "lack of resources". Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland haven't got a programme of their own yet. The recent select committee report into sexual health echoed calls from those working with young people for an immediate implementation of screening nationwide, but greater investment remains the key and it is just not forthcoming.