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The pregnancy rate among under-18s has risen for the first time in five years, figures have showed.
Among girls under 16, the rate went from 7.8 conceptions per 1,000 girls in 2006 to 8.3 per 1,000 in 2007 - a 6.4% rise.
The latest figures show the actual number of pregnancies in girls under 16 increased from 7,826 in 2006 to 8,196 in 2007. Nearly three-quarters of these were in 15-year-old girls.
The overall pregnancy rate among under-18s in England and Wales rose for the first time since 2002, the data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also revealed.
The under-18 conception rate increased from 40.9 per 1,000 women in 2006 to 41.9 in 2007. And in 2007, there were 42,918 pregnancies among under-18s compared with 41,768 in 2006. Of these, 50% led to an abortion in 2007 - the highest proportion since records began in 1990 when the figure was 41%. Among under-16s alone, 51% ended in abortion in 1990, rising to 61% in 2007.
The Government has pledged to halve teenage pregnancy rates among girls under 18 by next year but is widely expected to miss this target. A 2004 aim to cut the rates by 15% from the base year of 1988 was missed.
The Government responded to the latest figures by announcing funding worth £20.5 million, of which £19 million is new cash.
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Public health minister Dawn Primarolo and children's minister Beverley Hughes said the cash was for encouraging young people to delay early sex and to practise safe sex when they do become sexually active.
Of the money, £7 million will be spent on a contraceptive choice media campaign to raise awareness of the different options - including long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) such as implants. A total of £10 million will be given to local health services to ensure contraception is available "in the right places at the right time" and £1 million will be used in further education colleges.
The Government said the long-term trend on teen pregnancy was still downward and overall there had been a 10.7% reduction in under-18 conceptions and a 23.3% decline in teenage births since the start of the Government's strategy in 1998.
