High teenage pregnancy rate calls for a return to basics

For many years, we have heard that many young people fear becoming or making somebody pregnant than acquiring some sexually transmitted diseases including those that have no cure.

Preventing pregnancy while having live sex is one of their preoccupations, which ends into, in most cases, an effort in futility. I am not sure if this is what prompted government to make a plan where 15-year-old girls could have access to birth control methods.

The issue of teenage pregnancy is one of those that is keeping health and education and perhaps the planning and finance officials awake. Uganda’s teenage pregnancy rate stands at a national average of 24%, shoulders above that of East Africa according to the country’s National Strategy to End Child Marriage and Teenage Pregnancy (2022/23 – 2026/27) of the ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

In regions like Busoga, some counties have in the past recorded rates as high as 40%! Some reports from the National Population Council indicate that Uganda’s health facility expenditure on the healthcare of teenage mothers stands at almost Shs250 billion a year.

And, it is estimated that at least 1,000 girls aged below 18 get pregnant in the country every day! The overall cost of teenage pregnancy to the economy is said to be a whopping Shs 1.2 trillion annually. Some of the adult men responsible for these pregnancies are the people entrusted with taking care of these young girls. Teachers, cousins, uncles and in some cases even biological fathers!

There is also the issue of poverty. Parents trying to cash in on their girls through bride price as soon as they see signs of a protruding breast or hear that their daughter is now menstruating. In order to get an emaciated cow and a few cheap gifts such as nylon or polyester clothing, they start looking for men with some means to pay. Many such men even pay in installments.

Teenage girls also trying to run away from biting poverty at home, agree to sleep with whoever they think has the means to make their lives better. Many times, such men are also struggling to survive and are unable to look after themselves.

Maternity wards of public health facilities are full of teenage mothers struggling with the after effects of either giving birth or unsafe abortions. School dropouts are increasing by the day. A generational crisis is on the horizon. Research shows that the more years one spends in school, the more chances of living a better life by not only earning better but also being able to make informed decisions such as when to have a baby.

And importantly, who to have that baby with. In many parts of rural Uganda, children delay to start school. it is not uncommon to find a 16-year-old girl or boy in primary four yet they should be towards the end of their lower secondary education.

By the time they are in primary six or seven, they are already adults by any standards who are now being pressurized to give their parents what they consider an ultimate reward — a grandchild. For the boys, many times they go for the girls in lower classes. A cycle of teenage pregnancies then is established in the family leading to continued household poverty.

If we are to reduce the rampant teenage pregnancies, there is need to send children to school early so that by the time they are pressurized into sexual activities, the majority have matured to understand the consequences. Fighting household poverty is critical. A parent who isn’t looking for a cow or gomesi will think twice before offering their daughter for marriage.

Also, we need to go back to the basics like it was in the 1980s and 1990s with the advent of HIV/Aids. Sexuality education was key in the fight against HIV/Aids. People understood from a young age that indulging in sexual activities without a condom was a one-way ticket to the graveyard even though there was also emphasis on abstinence and being faithful.

Teenagers need to understand their sexual rights but also the dangers of engaging in sexual intercourse and more so doing it without using condoms. Pregnancy is not the only consequence of having sex. Sexually transmitted diseases still exist.

We may prefer to concentrate on pregnancy but the same teenagers will be returning to health facilities for treatment of STDs. They will drop out of school too because they are sick. The burden on public social services will be high. So why not use the abstinence, being faithful and condoms model?

Family planning could be preached to those older enough to make these decisions. We should spend less time holding national prayer breakfasts and impart teens with the sexuality education they need to make informed decisions.

djjuuko@gmail.com

The writer is a communication and visibility consultant