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Sexual and Reproductive Health is ‘On the Frontline’ of Anti-Science Attacks
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In Short: NHS doctors warn of a sharp rise in children and young people attending A&E units in England for mental health concerns.
According to reports, there has been a significant increase in children and young people, some as young as six, presenting to A&E units in England for mental health crises, with a 36% rise in attendances between 2019 and 2025, according to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
The analysis, based on figures provided under the Freedom of Information Act by NHS England, found 75,491 attendances at A&E by children and young people for a mental health concern in 2025. Dr Sam Jones, an officer for mental health at the RCPCH, highlighted the lack of support for those in crisis and called for greater investment in mental health services.
Dr Jones also emphasized the need for better training for staff from key agencies across health, social care, and education to help children struggling with mental health issues. She suggested expanding the network of young future hubs, which bring together various support services.
The government is planning to publish a new mental health strategy later in the summer, but a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman noted improvements, including investment in mental health teams for schools and more than 150 new mental health hubs in community locations.
Meanwhile, powerful leaders are seeking to suppress independent research and deny scientific evidence, according to Gilmore, co-chair of the Human Reproduction Programme’s Gender and Rights Advisory Panel. She highlighted the frontline position of sexual and reproductive health and rights in facing anti-science hostility, including racism, sexism, and homophobia.
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- “In 2013, when these estimates first came up, they were launched alongside WHO’s clinical and policy guidelines on intimate partner violence and sexual violence,” said Gonsalves.
- HRP is the United Nations instrument that conducts research in human reproduction and is hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO).
- Lianne Gonsalves, a WHO scientist working on sexual health, reminded the webinar of two important trials that had advanced SRH knowledge.
- The global statistic that one in three women globally are going to experience physical and/or sexual violence during their lifetime comes from WHO’s landmark 2013 global and regional estimates on violence against women, produced in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the South African Medical Research Council.
Sources
- Health Policy Watchlink