Promoting

For the inescapable difficulty that comes with the scheme by the Hyndburn and Ribble Valley NHS Primary Care Group for health centres to issue the contraceptives free to teenagers is whether, in trying to curb the problem of unwanted pregnancies, it is at the same time only encouraging more teenage sex.

Yet, even critics will have to admit that East Lancashire has a real problem in its levels of teenage pregnancies. Its rate of 61.4 under-18 girls in every 1,000 becoming pregnant, compared with the national average of 45, is one of the highest in the country. And in Hyndburn the situation is considerably worse, with the rate soaring to 70.55.

And with all the social and economic problems that entail from children being brought up in impoverished single-parent households -- and with strong evidence that the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy goes hand in hand with poor education and deprivation -- it is hardly surprising that the condom hand-outs in East Lancashire accord with government policy to slash the rates by half by the end of the decade.

But the moral issues that it raises cannot be easily ignored.

Indeed, the Primary Care Group acknowledges that is leaving itself open to accusations that it is promoting promiscuity. Its rejoinder to that is the pregnancy figures show that teenagers are having sex anyway and that it is better that they do it safely.

Nonetheless, many will argue that practical resignation to the situation should not be the only approach. If teenage pregnancies are to be curbed, then education and counselling must also be coupled with contraception.

If condoms are to be distributed, the scheme must go hand in hand with responsible advice. Otherwise, a blind eye is turned to morality and the anything-goes, sex-is-OK culture that youngsters are already exposed to is only encouraged even more -- ultimately doing little to alleviate this grave social problem.