Hansard

It is a pleasure to follow Susan Deacon, who has been a consistent and passionate advocate on the issue and who does credit to the debate.

I will focus my remarks on two areas. The first is the availability of information on sexual health issues, in particular for young people. The second is the slightly wider issue of the administrative framework through which we expect the strategy to be implemented.

I join colleagues in commending the expert reference group, which was established in 2002, for its work in drawing up the sexual health strategy. The group represented a wide range of interests, from pharmacies to faith groups, which is also to be commended. After the end of March, we will have the public response to that work, which will make fascinating reading.

I recently had the pleasure of giving an interview to a youth project in my constituency, as part of a video on young people's views on health issues—I was flattered that the interviewer should think that I was youthful. I was asked frank questions about access to services and information and about trust. We have become accustomed to talking about what concerns young people, but we do so from our own, prejudiced viewpoints, so it was fascinating to hear the young people's perspective on the reasons behind the problems that the strategy seeks to address—the minister painted a picture of those problems at the beginning of his speech.

Many young people, in rural and in urban areas, find it difficult to access services that offer advice on sexual health. The strategy touches on the difficulties for young people in rural areas, but I am sorry to say that it does so all too briefly—in paragraph 4.60—although I know that the report applies to the whole of Scotland. It is challenging enough for a young person to pluck up the courage to discuss a sexual health matter with their elders or with people who are unfamiliar, but, perversely, it can be even harder to find the courage to discuss such matters with a health worker who is known to the young person or their parents. In some families, there are serious consequences for children who merely access information on such matters.

Paragraph 4.5 of the strategy says:

"In Scotland like the rest of the UK, there is a lack of clear, accurate information and open, non-judgemental environments in which individuals of all ages can form their views and develop knowledge about sex, sexuality and sexual health and make their own appropriate choices."

That is the most powerful paragraph in the document.

One avenue that has opened up in recent years and has helped enormously to address that problem is provided by the internet. We hear much of the dangers of new technology and we have spent much time in the chamber considering those dangers. However, the internet has the potential to deliver information on health in a way that its audience can access easily and on their own terms. Websites such as youngscot.org and caledoniayouth.org are excellent examples of the effective presentation of high-quality sexual health advice. The healthy respect website, which has been mentioned this afternoon, is another excellent example of the provision of advice and statistical and practical information. It includes, for example, information on community pharmacies that participate in the EC72 scheme, which makes emergency contraception available from some pharmacies in Lothian to women aged between 14 and 25. The scheme is free and completely confidential and it is available to those of my constituents who live in Midlothian.

I endorse Rhona Brankin's comments on the need to continue the healthy respect initiative. The issue is not free from controversy, but websites such as the ones that I have mentioned should be promoted and made known to workers in the field and to young people. Youth projects in the Borders are keen to develop more materials, both online and on CD-ROMs. Such tools are good not only for disseminating information, but for receiving feedback from users. It would be useful for me and my colleagues to see the responses to the websites that I mentioned. I hope that the Executive will do more in that regard, given the interest of the young people who are using the websites. The websites are most effective when they link with centres, such as the Brook centres, that make counselling sessions available for young people who need support on any sexual health matter.

We have heard about the images that we see on television. However, some of the plot lines in "EastEnders" and "Coronation Street" over recent years have brought to the fore issues that have never been debated in such a context, such as HIV and teenage pregnancy.4779

I welcome the draft strategy, but I look forward to continuing work in the area—crucially, on the administration that is required to implement the strategy. My fear is that all the good work will go ahead without being fully subsumed into existing networks. I was slightly disappointed that, of the five key aspects that the minister announced, the way in which the strategy will be implemented through existing networks was only the fourth. I would have thought that it should be the priority. I was encouraged by supplementary paper 5A to the strategy, which details how services can be integrated. However, I know that real resources will be needed—all members have touched on that—and it is vital that they are used at the most effective level.

All the hard work, all the initiatives and all the Government strategies will not be effective unless we have a real and mature debate. Government action alone will not change human nature, religious belief or ethnic custom. The strategy goes some way towards achieving those objectives, but all members have a responsibility to keep the debate going.