§ 33. Dame Joan Vickersasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, in view of the fact that gonorrhoea in England and Wales is the second commonest infectious disease, being exceeded only by measles, what steps he is taking to encourage the improvement of sex education in schools.
§ Mr. Denis HowellLast November a letter from the Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health and Social Security was sent to Medical Officers of Health and to Chief Education Officers drawing attention to the increasing incidence140W of venereal diseases and the need to discuss the adequacy of the arrangements for the instruction of children and young people both at school and in further education. The Department's Handbook of Health Education, republished last year, contains a section on venereal disease. Talks on this subject are already given in many schools and colleges, and are encouraged by my Department through Her Majesty's Inspectors and Medical Officers.