Rising teenage pregnancy deaths worry State

Sun, 29 Jan 2017 10:41:30 +0000

By AARON CHIYANZO

GOVERNMENT is worried about the increase in the number of adolescent girls dying as a result of teenage pregnancies, Health minister Chitalu Chilufya has said.

Dr Chilufya said that there were many adolescents who lost their lives because of the effects associated with teenage pregnancy.

Speaking at the 37th General Conference for Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia (PPAZ), Dr Chilufya said that adolescents posed a key challenge in Government’s provision of sexual reproductive health services.

Dr Chilufya pointed out that adolescents faced a lot of challenges during child delivery such as obstructed labour, pregnancy-induced hypertension and obstetric fistula.

He said that adolescents were more likely to be infected with HIV/AIDS and that even recent studies had proved so.

Dr Chilufya challenged PPAZ to be in the forefront supporting sexual anti-reproductive health for the girl child to minimise adolescent deaths.

“It is Government’s hope that your deliberations will come up with initiatives to minimise the number of adolescents dying as a result of teenage pregnancies. There are many adolescents who lose their lives because of the effects associated with teenage pregnancy” he said.

Meanwhile, PPAZ national chairperson Mary Zulu said that the association was ready to work with stakeholders having the mandate to address the reproductive health challenges faced by the Zambian people especially young people.

Dr Zulu stressed the need to ensure that women and men continued to build on issues of sexual and reproductive health.

She said that the association would continue supporting ways to prevent early and unintended pregnancies and other health challenges.

Dr Zulu pointed out that child marriages remained a serious obstacle to the realisation of all rights for young people especially adolescent girls.

She warned that child marriages had a direct and negative impact on the education, health, social status and dignity of adolescent girls.

Dr Zulu said that PPAZ stood united to curb child marriages, unintended pregnancies, gender based violence, including sexual violence.

She explained that the vices increased vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, cervical cancer and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STD).

“We cannot achieve all this alone but with continued support we shall reach the highest unmet sexual and reproductive health needs among the marginalised and most vulnerable populations in the communities” said Dr Zulu.