DOH reports decline in kids having kids

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - The state health department says New Mexico's teenage birth rate has decreased to nearly 58 per 100,000 people in 2007 from almost 62 per 1,000 people the previous year.

Health Secretary Dr. Alfredo Vigil says the state must work to emphasize the importance of abstinence and provide information about how people can protect themselves from unplanned pregnancies.

The rate for 2007, the latest year available, has fallen from a peak of more than 67 people per 100,000 in 1997. The state tracks births to 15- to 19-year-olds.

The health department is spending about $823,000 this fiscal year on programs designed to decrease teen pregnancy rates.

Public health offices statewide offer family planning services, counseling and community education at no cost to the patients.

(Nationally the teen birth rate for 15- to 19-year-olds was 41.9 births per 1,000 women in 2007, according to data compiled by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . New Mexico's rate remains one of the highest in the country.)