08 Dec 2024

The Ministry of Health advisor - Sexual Reproduction Health (SRH), Dr Morris Sinvula, has raised concern about the high rate of teenage pregnancy in the Okavango District. 

Dr Sinvula said this during the support visit on integrated sexual reproductive health services and minimum initial service package for sexual and reproductive by the Ministry of Health of the District disaster management committee recently. 

He noted that growing up in a rural area that is poverty stricken can expose children to sexual activities whether physically or witnessing the act at an early stage.

Dr Sinvula gave an example of a girl living in a hut with her parents that can be exposed to sexual activities since they sleep in the same hut with both parents. 

He pointed out that there are some people who still force children into early marriages. 

“The girls are given to older men to take care of them in order to later marry them. As a result, in most cases, the girls cannot tell when they are being defiled because they were told that they are wives,” lamented Dr Sinvula. 

He added that this issue was not talked much about in those communities.

Dr Sinvula suggested that there should be campaigns to abolish early marriages completely.

He stated that the girls are still young both mentally and physically and sometimes face difficulty in giving birth, which leads to some health problems.

He said if early marriages are not eliminated and managed, they could spread. Mr Sinvula also noted that the act could lead to other diseases such as HIV/ AIDS and sexual transmitted diseases. 

“When we still have this number of young girls getting pregnant, it means the job has not started yet but I am happy that the problem has been identified and it is being addressed,” he remarked. 

According to the statistics from the Okavango District Health Management Team (DHMT), teenage pregnancy remains above their target of nine percent.

It shows that in the first quarter of the year, they registered 385 cases of pregnancy, of which 77 were teenage pregnancy making it 20 per cent.

The statistics shows the increase of numbers in the second quarter were 278 cases of pregnancy of which 59 were teenage pregnancies, making it 21.2 per cent.

Dr Sinvula congratulated the DHMT for Neo Natal death decrease (child death between 0 to a month), which has decreased from 12 in quarter one to eight in the second quarter. He said those statistics shows the results of the DHMT’s hard work and commitment. Ends