Almost 50% of Welsh teenagers have had sex before they are 16

More young people in Wales are seeking help at clinics than ever before, BBC Radio Wales' Eye on Wales has found.

Consultant Olwen Williams, an expert on sexual infections, said the number of under 16s in Wales attending clinics had risen 37% in five years.

The Welsh Assembly Government has announced plans to spend �14m on sexual health services.

Rates of chlamydia have also increased by 240% among girls aged 16-19 in Wales in the same five-year period.

Chlamydia can cause infertility among women and can lead to disability among men.

Wales already has the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in Europe.

Safe sex is a major part of sexual health campaigns

In addition, research suggests that nearly half of Welsh teenagers have had sex before the legal age.

The latest figures for sexual infections in Wales will be published by the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV.

Life-threatening

But Dr Williams, of Wrexham Maelor Hospital, said the new statistics were just the tip of the iceberg, with clinics in Wales only picking up about 5% of cases.

The Family Planning Association has called for better access to education and information for young people because existing messages were failing to protect them.

Dr Marion Lyons of the National Public Health Service has been appointed by the Welsh Assembly to start to tackle the scale of the problem.

Dr Lyons agreed services had to be overhauled if teenagers were to be protected from life-threatening diseases such as HIV and syphilis.

In December the assembly government announced a series of measures on sexual health.

They included ensuring access to testing for sexually transmitted infections within two working days.