Andrew Lansley will tomorrow outline Conservative policy on sexual health services, with a call for young people to receive more support and "take control of their lives".

The shadow health secretary will also outline plans for greater freedom of choice over service provision.

And a Tory government will launch a major public awareness campaign highlighting the risks of sexually-transmitted infections and the need for safer sex.

Ahead of a visit to Manchester on Tuesday, where he will visit a Gay and Lesbian Foundation sexual health service clinic, Lansley said the government had failed to give public and sexual health the priority needed to sustain the successes of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

He pointed to the high profile campaigns launched under previous Conservative administrations as proof of the party's commitment to promoting public health.

Lansley also appeared willing to take on traditionalist calls for the party to directly promote abstinence among young people as a means of preventing the spread of sexually-transmitted infections.

He said an information campaign would "promote amongst young people that they should take control of their lives, including their sex lives".

"Individuals should be able to make fully informed decisions for themselves, be less susceptible to peer pressure and have the right to choose what's best for them," he said.

"Giving young people the confidence to choose for themselves is a key aspect not only of sex education, but also of combating drug misuse."

Further details of the party's plans are to be set out in September, but Lansley said the belief that people should exercise greater control over their healthcare would be a central theme.

"They should not only have an effective choice of service provision, within an NHS framework of standards of services, but should also take greater responsibility for their health; this will be part of the right to choose in sexual health," he said.

Warning that HIV diagnoses are up by 150 per cent since 1996 and diagnoses of Chlamydia have increased by 140 per cent, the Conservatives are setting out a six point "sexual health framework".

The party will support sex education in schools and amongst young people, while also launching its public awareness campaign.

And the National Institute of Clinical Excellence will be asked to prepare guidelines for the provision of NHS sexual health, in tandem with a review of the service capacity required to support the standards of service which NICE may recommend.

There will also be moves to encourage voluntary sector agencies to increase service provision, while the Health Protection Agency will be tasked with responding to major outbreaks of infection.

"By these major reforms to sexual health services, we hope to re-motivate professionals working in this field, so that services can be developed and improved," said Lansley.

"Patients will be able to take greater responsibility for their treatment, including self-administered care and combined the results of these reforms will substantially offset the emerging costs and burdens of sexual health on the NHS."