New council figures have confirmed the once sky-high figure for teenage pregnancies in Blackburn with Darwen has dropped to below the national average.

However, they also show the borough's abortion rate is above the national average, and the testing level for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in under-25s is below the percentage for the rest of the country.

The figures, in a report to Blackburn with Darwen Council's executive board on Thursday next week, on the authority's new 'Sexual Health Strategy 2023 - 2028' also reveal worryingly low testing figures for chlamydia - one of the most common STIs.

In 2007 there were 143 teenage pregnancies in Blackburn with Darwen – 45.7 per 1,000 teenage girls in the borough, one of the highest rates in the country and way above the national average.

The new report says that in 2021 this figure has dropped to 42 pregnancies (with four amongst under 16's specifically), a rate of 12.6 per 1,000 in 2021, below the national figure (13.1 per 1,000).

It also shows there were 21 births registered to women under 18, which means just 1.1 per cent of births in the borough were to teenage mothers, though this is almost double the national figure of 0.6 per cent.

In 2021, there were 630 abortions of those aged 15 to 44 living in the borough, meaning the rate was above the national average.

In his report on the strategy public health boss Cllr Damian Talbot says: "The new strategy aims to promote accessible and equitable sexual health services for all individuals in Blackburn with Darwen regardless of race, ethnicity, sexuality or socioeconomic status.

"Our aim is that Blackburn with Darwen is a place where sexual health and safe healthy relationships can be openly discussed and embraced, creating an environment that encourages prevention and promotes a culture of care and respect.

"To achieve our vision, we are dedicated to expanding access to testing and treatment services."

In the report, the following areas have been identified as core priorities for this sexual health strategy:

  • Control and prevent the transmission of STIs
  • The proportion of 15 to 24 year old's tested for chlamydia is significantly worse than the national rate and has been for many years
  • The STI testing rate of those under 25 in the borough has been significantly worse than the national average
  • Since 2018, there have been between 200 to 300 diagnoses of chlamydia among 15 to 24-year-olds per year within sexual health services (SHS), with the current rate of detection amongst the lowest in the North-West
  • "Combat HIV through early detection, prevention, treatment and care, and reducing stigma
  • In 2021,112 people in the borough were living with a HIV diagnosis, with 93 aged from 15 to 59
  • In 2021, 582 people (33.1 per cent of those eligible) took a HIV test in 2021 in SHS settings
  • Testing coverage amongst men (60.2 per cent) is similar to the national figure (62.8 per cent). Rates are significantly lower amongst women with only 20.8 per cent eligible testing compared to 36.6 per cent nationally.

The latest figures revealed that in in 2022, 143 cases of gonorrhoea were recorded in Blackburn with Darwen an increase of 88 on the year before, when there were 55.

In the same 12 months 23 syphilis cases were also recorded – up from four in 2021.