Africa, Development & Aid, Headlines, Health

HEALTH-UGANDA: Renewed War Against Teenage Pregnancies

Evelyn Kiapi Matsamura

KAMPALA, Feb 23 2004 (IPS) - “A baby boy weighing two kilogrammes was abandoned in Mulago hospital labour suite last evening. The mother, Peace Busingye, 17, had delivered earlier that day.”

That is the introduction to a letter written from the Kampala City Council Probation Office to the management of Little Angels Children’s Home, seeking a home for the one-day old baby.

The letter named the child, born in Uganda’s largest hospital Mulago in the capital Kampala, Joshua. But Joshua did not live long. Always frail and sickly, he succumbed to illnesses and died a year later.

“We get those kinds of cases quite a lot. Many of the children that are brought here are from teenage mothers,” says Max Mugisha, the founder of the Little Angels Children’s Home in Rubaga, a suburb of Kampala.

“Yes, we have incidences of children suspected to be infected with HIV/AIDS,” he says.

Newspapers are full of stories of young girls arrested after being suspected of dumping their newly born babies, a result of unplanned teenage pregnancies.

Teenage pregnancy prevalence rate has dropped from 43 percent to 31 percent in the past few years due to increased use of condoms, reduction of sexual partners and delay in sexual debut, according to the 2003 State of Uganda’s Population Report.

Fifty-two percent of Uganda’s 24.7 million people are below 15 years, according to the 2002 Population and Housing Census.

In a society that has a high desire for children, childbearing and sexual activities start as early as 14 years. By the age of 15, 30 percent of women have had sexual intercourse and by 18, the proportion increases to 72 percent, according to the 2003 report.

The fertility rate, estimated at 6.9 percent, has been attributed to low levels of education, low incomes and social status, early marriages, low contraceptive use, religious and cultural beliefs as well as the need for old-age security. Contraceptive use is as low as 23 percent and 50 percent of the population marries before the age of 18, the report says.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says early childbearing is a major cause of death among young women who are also prone to experiencing complications at birth.

Early marriages, attributed to cultural and religious beliefs, have also increased the number of teenage pregnancies. Many cannot negotiate condom use due to religious or cultural reasons.

In its fight against HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), Uganda has recognised the need to control teenage pregnancies. The government and civil society groups are promoting Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) through the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) model.

“Delay sex, know your rights, avoid early pregnancy/marriage, stay in school, prevent HIV/STDs” goes the constant messages reminding young people about their responsibility to stay well and alive.

In 2002, President Yoweri Museveni directed that sex education be taught in primary schools. But the government has yet to produce a guidebook on sex education for teachers.

While waiting for the guidebook, the ministry of education is advising head teachers to talk to their students once a week about HIV/AIDS during school assemblies.

‘Straight Talk Foundation’, a non-governmental organisation, produces publications, reaching an estimated three million young people as well as parents and teachers in Uganda every month.

Some 400,000 copies of “Young Talk” for primary school pupils aged 10-14 and 230,000 copies of “Straight Talk” for secondary school students aged 15-19 are published monthly. They carry messages relating to growing up, relationship and love, delaying sex, using a condom, and preventing HIV/STDs and testing for HIV.

The two publications are translated into local languages so as to reach a wider audience. The Foundation also has a half-hour “Straight Talk Radio Show” that broadcasts on 14 radio stations in four local languages.

Over 230 “Straight Talk clubs” have been formed in secondary schools and communities around the country. They discuss and exchange ideas about reproductive health.

“The club has enabled me to avoid unwanted pregnancy by teaching me the benefits of condom use,” says Rita Amanyire, a “Straight Talk” member in a Kampala secondary school.

“Since I started reading ‘Straight Talk’, I have stopped having sex. Had I begun reading it much earlier, I would not have lost my virginity at an early age,” says Vincent Khaukha, a teenager.

Both students and school heads benefit from the two publications.

“Your sensitisations have a positive impact on our schools. Senior women teachers now have regular meetings with the girls. Defilement cases by teachers have reduced,” says Kura Vasco, a district education officer.

Last year the Population Services International (PSI) Uganda, a non-profit-making organisation, working under the mandate of the ministry of health, took a group of local musicians to schools to highlight the risks of early sex.

The group, which focuses on behavioural change, advocates for abstinence and condom use.

“Teenage pregnancies and HIV/AIDS are related. If you can educate people how to abstain or use a condom, it will protect you from pregnancy as well as HIV and STDs,” says Alison Mobley, PSI Director for HIV/AIDS.

Last December PSI launched “Kikosi”, a comic book with a teenage character living a positive life. The book, which is produced monthly, is distributed free among teenagers at secondary school level.

“The book is written in such a way that it’s all interesting for the reader,” Mobley says.

Two weeks ago, a group of local musicians attended a one-week workshop on Sexual and Reproductive issues at the German Foundation for Youth Development (DSW/BONITA) Training Centre to instil in them behavioural change and communication skills.

DSW Country Director Bernadette Babishangire said music plays a major role in highlighting the risks of HIV/AIDS.

“It is crucial that the musicians are equipped with knowledge and skills so that they can effectively communicate and deliver accurate, clear and relevant messages to adolescents,” she says.

“Teenage pregnancies are all the consequences of unplanned sexual encounters. When we asked the students why they engaged in sex, they told us it was just fun. They said it was pleasure and an alternative to reading books,” says Richard Kaweesa, a musician.

It is, however, too late for some teenagers to return to school. “It’s tough being a teenage mother,” says Beatrice Achiro, who became a mother at 17. Now at 23 she feels the pregnancy ruined her future. All she does now is selling vegetables in a roadside market.

“Not only do you drop out of school, but you also face the challenge of looking after the child. If I had to do it all again, early sex would definitely not be an option for me,” she says.

The greatest challenge remains HIV/AIDS.

UNAIDS says HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death among people aged 15-49 years.

Out of every new HIV infections that occur, more than 50 percent are among young people below 25 years. And young girls carry a high risk of 3-6 percentage times to HIV infection compared to the males, UNAIDS says.

Although HIV/AIDS prevalence rates have dropped from 30 percent to six percent by 2002, the number of deaths persists in Uganda, according to official statistics. By the end of 2001, Uganda had over two million cases of HIV infection, of which 950,000 had died of AIDS.

Fighting teenage pregnancies could be one way of saving a young productive generation.

 
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