ELEVEN Northern Territory children under the age of 10 presented with a sexually transmitted infection (STI) last year, it was revealed yesterday.

There were eight reported cases of chlamydia, two of trichomoniasis and one of gonorrhoea.

Two of the 11 children where under the age of five. There were also 178 reported cases of STIs in children aged 10 to 14.

Wendy Armstrong, section head of the Health Department’s sexual health and blood-borne virus program, said the rate of STIs in children under the age of 14 was concerning.

“We don’t think it’s acceptable at all and we are working to have an impact on the number of STIs in young people,” she said.

The Health Department issued a press release claiming  a drop in the number of kids presenting with STIs in the past six months.

But analysis of the figures shows the number of reported infections is actually steady, or slightly up, for 2007.

It has also been reported that the Federal Government’s intervention, which began in June last year, led to a drop in STI infection rates among children.

But Ms Armstrong said figures in the second half of the year always tended to be lower.

She said the Central Australian tri-states screening, conducted every May and June, pushed up the number of reported cases in the first half of the year.

“It’s a mass screening event and naturally it picks up more than we pick up during the year,” she said.

“We always have a concentration of results in that time.  It artificially inflates the first six months.

“We can’t be claiming that a drop in the last six months is some kind of a win because it will always plateau.”

STI rates among all groups in the NT are higher than anywhere else in the country.

Ms Armstrong said the Sexual Health Advisory Group  had been established about two years ago to address STI infection rates.

Since then the Health Department had employed a sexual health medical officer to work across the Territory.

A safe-sex program aimed at 15 to 24-year-olds would also be launched next month, Ms Armstrong said.

“I’m hopeful that the next couple of years will bring about a change in the trend of high infections,” she said.