Hundreds of condoms given out to teens in safe sex drive

The service was today praised as a crucial way of protecting youngsters from unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, amid rising rates of teenage pregnancy and chlamydia in the region.

But the Catholic Church in Scotland condemned the service for making sex as easy as "having a pizza" for schoolchildren.

A total of 53,638 free condoms were issued to 13 to 15-year-olds in Edinburgh and the Lothians as part of NHS Lothian's C:card service in 2005, according to new figures released to the Evening News under the Freedom of Information Act. Youth workers at the Canongate Youth Project, one of 69 C:card outlets in the Lothians, said growing numbers of teenagers were using its service.

Canongate project worker Laurene Edgar said: "Yes, the legal age of consent is 16, but we all know that some people under that age have sex whether we give them free condoms or not.

"It's about taking a harm reduction approach in that we recognise that those under 16 engage in sexual relationships and we want to make sure they are doing that in a way that is as safe as possible."

The C:card service costs NHS Lothian 134,000 a year to run. Take-up last year dropped from the previous year, but health chiefs believe there is no significant trend, and the service is still proving popular with youngsters.

Children who want to claim free condoms, receive a membership card after handing over their date of birth and the first part of their postcode. Before contraceptives are issued, the child is shown how to put on the condom and must talk to a worker about their sexual relationship.

NHS Lothian's public health director Dr Alison McCallum said: "The C:card system is an important service for young people. As well as providing free condoms, it allows young people to access free and confidential advice and information, from experienced and skilled staff, regarding the practice of safer sex, related infections and relationships.

"The number of organisations which operate the C:card system has risen in the last six months from 65 to 69."

Unsafe sex has been blamed for the rising cases of chlamydia and growing numbers of teenage pregnancies in the Lothians.

Cases of chlamydia, which can cause infertility, have doubled in both women and men over the past five years. There were 781 cases among men and 615 among women in 2005.

The latest NHS Lothian figures also show around 120 pregnancies a year among 13 to 15-year-olds - a 31 per cent rise in ten years.

Simon Dames, a spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, condemned the service.

He said: "Sex isn't like having a pizza, which is why I think we are lying to our youth by having these so-called sexual health services.

"We are raising the age of smoking cigarettes to 18 and it would be crazy encouraging youngsters to try cigarettes by calling it safe smoking. We have now got a zero tolerance approach to smoking but, for some reason, with sexual integrity and dignity we are going the other way and destroying our youths' modesty."

Judith Gillespie of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council said although parents do worry about their child having sex at such a young age, they should feel reassured that they are being encouraged to do so safely. She said: "If you have a child of this age, you might not like them to participate in sex but it's worse if the child ends up pregnant or with some disease that is difficult to treat."

"If you have got a teenage girl, the one thing you don't want to happen is that youngster getting pregnant. The ideal situation might be no sex but the realistic solution is to try to stop young girls from getting pregnant."