Action plan to end alarming teenage pregnancy strategized

Nyamira Friday June 9, 2023

KNA by Deborah Bochere

Nyamira County stakeholders have strategised to implement a multi-sectorial action plan to end the alarming rate of teenage pregnancy in the County by 2030.

“Shocking rate of teenage pregnancy in Nyamira and few other counties in our country are a serious setback in enabling our country achieve its economic growth projections. The County adolescent gatekeepers must collaborate closely to implement sustainable action plans which will enable us end this menace by 2030,” said the Technical Services Director at National Council for Population Development (NCPD) Peter Nyakwara.

“This crisis slams education/career ambitions, disorients the social status of these young ones and perception from community about them equally changes,” Mr Nyakwara added.  

The Director pointed out that teenagers are a key basic resource in the country and they must therefore be nurtured rightly, protected and guided if the country can depend on them in building and prospering the country’s future economy.

He further explained that Teenage is a unique stage of human development and an important time for laying the foundation of good health because adolescents in this stage experience a lot of rapid physical, cognitive and psychological growth changes in their mind and body which needs guidance and support to enable them make informed choices as they transit through this delicate stage.

NCPD assistant director, Moses Ouma elaborated to gatekeepers that 25.5 per cent of the population in Kenya are adolescents between the ages of 10-19 and Nyamira County contributes to 1.4 per cent of the national adolescent’s share which is about 27.1 per cent of the county population according to 2019 census.

“Two out of ten pregnancies reported in Nyamira are adolescent pregnancies which comprises about 16 per cent, a rate above the national average of 15 per cent. This county’s rate of child marriages between 12-18 years is 4.7 per cent and 6.4 per cent among girls and boys respectively and is classified to be among the 25 counties with child marriage rates higher than national average of 3.1 per cent and 6.1 per cent for boys and girls respectively,”Mr Ouma said.

“Though the number of adolescents presenting with pregnancy during their first Antenatal Clinic (ANC) at county facilities have gradually been reducing since 2019 to date, the rate is very negligible compared to other counties with a similar challenge the reason why stakeholders must be purposeful and work with speed to end this disquieting crisis by 2030,” the Assistant Director noted.

Nyamira County Parents’ Association chair, Dr Charles Moochi squarely blamed poor parenting as key contributor to lose in fight against adolescent pregnancy because most parents have abdicated their parenting role and delegated them to nannies and school teachers who have no attachment or are overwhelmed to handle individual student challenges.

“Parents must be available for their children, adequately provide them with their basic needs, be keen and sensitive on their needs, guide them to choose correct company of friends and know who their friends are and teach them on the effects of overreliance on electronic media and social media content to influence them make informed choices during this complex stage of adolescence,” Moochi stated.

The County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for health, Dr Timothy Ombati outlined that the ultimate cause of adolescent pregnancy is unprotected sex.

“It comes with its share of other complications like risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, maternal and child deaths because their bodies are not mature enough to hold pregnancy to term successfully,” Ombati said. 

“This is further compounded with social economic challenges like dropping out of school, inability to secure employment, stigma, and perpetuates poverty,” he added.

Nyamira County Commissioner Onesmas Kyatha who is also the coordinator of the of the gatekeepers forum tasked to end Nyamira teenage pregnancy vowed that he will relentlessly bolster a team spirit in implementing the action plan of ending adolescent pregnancy in the region.

“We shall intensify capacity building focusing more on awareness creation among adolescents and young adults on the correct choices when it comes sexuality and reproductive health, and leverage on gatekeeper’s conventions and platforms for discussions on ways to end teenage pregnancy and identify intervention programmes which need to be mainstreamed in all sectors and to all ages so that the agenda of ending teenage pregnancy is embraced by all,” Kyatha said.

Nyamira gatekeeper’s forum to strategize on ways of ending teenage pregnancy is cascaded from government’s commitment to ending teenage pregnancy by 2030 during the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD25) held in Nairobi 2019.

Courtesy ; K. N. A