Roger Ingham, Professor of Health and Community Psychology has been visiting Thailand to advise them on teenage pregnancies.
Professor Ingham, who is also Director of the Centre for Sexual Health Research, last visited the country in 2014 to help raise awareness of the importance of interventions to reduce levels of unintended early pregnancies.
The Thai Government has now passed an Act of Parliament to reduce the high rates of teenage pregnancy, recognising the rights of all young people to good evidence-based sexuality education in all schools and providing access to contraception and support services.
Roger Ingham says:
As far as is known, Thailand is the first country to introduce a law to address the challenges involved, let alone one based on research evidence along with recognition of young people’s rights.
During his latest trip, organised by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) the Professor worked closely with senior staff from government ministries and charities to help formulate clear and practical policies.
He continues:
Although Thailand is clearly quite different in many respects from England, many of the lessons we learned from research and practice in the UK will be relevant. The challenge is to adapt these lessons to be suitable in the different context with suitable sensitivity to local customs and practice.
