CHLAMYDIA rates are higher among Wokingham’s young people than in the rest of the UK — but still lower than national targets.

Latest available data shows there are 1,267 diagnoses of the sexual disease per 100,000 15 - 24-year-olds per year in Wokingham.

Bracknell News:

Information revealed at a Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) children’s services meeting last night (Tuesday, January 7) indicated this rate is “lower than the national target” of 2,300 diagnoses per 100,000 per year, but “worse than the national average”.

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Mustafa Kamara, senior public health programme officer at the council, said at the meeting: “Measures of good sexual and reproductive health include teenage conceptions, STI diagnoses and late diagnoses of HIV are also encouraging in Wokingham.

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“However, more effort must be made to combat the rate of chlamydia diagnoses, which appears to worse than the average rate for the nation.”

Later at the meeting, the discussion turned to the Wokingham Youth Offending Service (WYOS), which supports young people at risk of offending behaviour.

Bracknell News:

A scheme aimed at providing free contraception to young people supported by the service had been discontinued after issues around ‘clinical commissioning group funding’, according to a WBC children’s services boss.

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But a representative from the WYOS said the service’s management board has re-introduced the “c-card” scheme after bosses met “identified gaps” in sex and relationships provision.

The children’s service overview and scrutiny committee met on Tuesday, January 7.