AN INNOVATIVE advertising campaign aimed at cutting the number of teenage pregnancies in the Medway area has been launched.

Medway Council, working together with Medway and Swale Primary Care Trusts, commissioned students from the Kent Institute of Art and Design (KIAD) to create a series of posters to be displayed on bus shelters in the area.

The aim is to reduce teenage pregnancy. Before spaces were booked for the posters, schools with above average levels of teenage pregnancies were identified. National evidence suggests that only 50 per cent of under 18s in the UK use contraception when they first have sex, contributing to the UK's high teenage pregnancy rates.

Working with the More Group, which owns all bus shelter advertising space, bus stops on routes serving these schools were identified and poster space booked. The council and its partners believe that the bus shelter posters will be something that young people are likely to notice while waiting for buses to take them to and from school.

CONFIDENTIAL, free and friendly young people's sexual health drop-in services are provided in Chatham and Gillingham. Anyone requiring more information should telephone 01634 400123.