EA birth control drive stillborn as teen pregnancies defy contraceptives

 

By  CHRISTABEL LIGAMI, Special Correspondent

In Summary

• East Africa has been rated second globally after West Africa as the region with the highest number of women reporting a birth before the age of 18.
• Uganda leads the region in the number of teenage pregnancies at 33 per cent, followed by Tanzania (28 per cent) and Kenya (26 per cent).

For a region experiencing one of the highest population growth rates in the world, East Africa is also teetering on the brink of a crisis of underage pregnancies.

East Africa has been rated second globally after West Africa as the region with the highest number of women reporting a birth before the age of 18.

At least five per cent of young women below the age of 18 in the region are already mothers while four per cent of girls below the age of 15 have children, shows a new report by the United Nations Population Fund.

The UNFPA report, titled “Motherhood in Childhood: Facing the challenge of adolescent pregnancy,” said Uganda leads the region in the number of teenage pregnancies at 33 per cent, followed by Tanzania (28 per cent) and Kenya (26 per cent).

This is becoming a big concern for policymakers given that the five East African Community countries are grappling with fast rising populations, that threaten to strain their limited economic resources. The high population growth rates have been blamed on low usage of contraceptives and rising cases of teenage pregnancies.

According to the Human Development Report 2013 and based on projections from earlier censuses in the region, East Africa’s population in mid-2012 was estimated at 144 million people, representing an increase of five million people from 139 million two years earlier.

The population is projected to hit 237 million by 2030. Currently, Kenya’s population growth rate is at 2.9 per cent per year. Burundi’s average annual rate of population growth is estimated at 3.2 per cent, Uganda’s at  3.3 per cent, Tanzania 3 per cent while Rwanda’s population is growing by 2.7 per cent.

More needed

Population and medical experts say that although the East African region has made progress over the past five years in the use of contraceptives compared with other African countries, a greater push is needed in increasing family planning and promoting reproductive healthcare among adolescents.

 

At the 2013 International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP 2013) in Addis Ababa, experts highlighted the challenges of reaching young people with contraceptive information and services.

“When adults try to engage with young people, the message often falls flat due to generational differences. ‘Peer-to-peer’ programmes that enlist youth to be leaders are essential,” said Theo Sowa, the chief executive of the African Women’s Development Fund.

Worldwide, more than 220 million women want to plan their families but do not have access to modern contraceptive methods. Addressing these needs for contraception would result in fewer women and girls dying in pregnancy and childbirth, fewer unintended pregnancies and fewer infant deaths.

“Young pregnant women are more likely to seek unsafe abortion later in their pregnancies, thus increasing their risk of death and disability,” said Jonathan Monda, a doctor at Kenyatta National Hospital.

He said that although other factors like culture and religion are a contributing factor to low contraceptive use, most people are not aware of the different family planning methods and their importance.

“Girls who are 15 or younger are at markedly higher odds for conditions such as eclampsia, anaemia, postpartum haemorrhage and puerperal endometritis than older adolescents,” said Dr Monda.