The review was commisioned for Sefton Health and presented to the newly formed Drug Action Team late in 1995. The review incorporated a thorough literature search conducted by the Public Health Observatory at Liverpool University and a broad programme of professional and public consultations by a Healthwise consultant on local options for prevention. The final report contained detailed, timed and prioritised recommendations for local action on the three sets of substances. The recommendations ranged from collaboration between youth and police agencies on public nuisance arising from teenage drinking in parks, to action by night club owners on the safety of their customers who might have used dance drugs like ecstasy. For more information contact Julie Tierney at Healthwise. 'Condom Cabs'.
Sexual health is an important priority across the whole of the north west.
There are significant problems with teen pregnancies and a continuing need to alert sexually active people to the risks of sexually transmitted infections with HIV, Hepatitis etc. One initiative taken by Healthwise and Wirral Health placed specially produced packs of condoms and sexual health information inside taxi cabs. The reasoning behind this was that the last journey before a sexual encounter - might well take place in a taxi. This was particularly likely when the people concerned had been drinking quite a lot thus making them unsafe to drive and at high risk of unsafe sex. Several local taxi companies participated in the activity which gained a great deal of local publicity.