Dr. Betty Kyaddondo, Director of Family HealthCare at the National Population Council (NPC), has revealed that expensive health care acquisition among youths is partly to blame for the high rate of teenage pregnancies.
Dr. Kyaddondo said that the current out-of-pocket expenditure on health care by teenage mothers currently stands at Shs1.28tn ($362.5m).
This is equivalent to 43% of the Ministry of Health budget, “and yet government health expenditure on teenage mothers’ health care is Shs246.9Bn ($70m).
“If no action is taken, teenage pregnancy will continue with 50% of teenagers at risk, and about 64% of teen mothers will not complete primary education level,” Dr. Kyadondo said
“Also, about 60% of teen mothers will end up in peasant agriculture work,” she warned,” she added.
She noted that annually more than Shs645Bn ($184m) will be spent on health care for teen mothers and the education of their children.
Dr. Kyaddondo’s remarks come at a time when Uganda joins the world to commemorate World Contraceptive Day.
The day which is being commemorated in Hoima under the theme: it’s your life, it’s your responsibility, comes at a time when the country is still grappling with increasing rates of teenage pregnancies.
2021 statistics from the Health Management Information Systems indicated that 258,766 girls and adolescent teens aged 10-19 gave birth in a health facility in 2021, indicating a 20% increase from 2020.
Furthermore, statistics from the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) indicate that nearly half (46.1%) of births by teenagers are unintended pregnancies, and 1 in every 4 girls aged between 15-19 years have begun childbearing.
Teenage pregnancies, according to the reports contribute to 20% of infant deaths and 28% of maternal deaths. Teenage pregnancy negatively impacts social development at the individual, family, and country levels.
Anne Alan Sizomu, Programme Specialist- Adolescent and Youth SRH at UNFPA noted that ending teenage pregnancy requires a multi-sectoral approach where everyone is involved, as this will help to reduce the level of dependency of children born by teenagers.
“Most of the time, the adolescents who are getting pregnant are not income earners, they are children. When we have many getting pregnant in one year, very few will make it out of subsistence agriculture,” she said adding
“Therefore, the cycle of poverty will continue and the chances of children of teenage mothers being able to go to school, with the existence of Universal Primary Education (UPE) may be very minimal,”
Naguru Teenage Information and Health Centre (NTIHC), has today partnered with Uganda at large, to organize the World Contraceptive Day.
Dr. Rogers Ampwera, the Executive Director NTIHC said they have for the past 27 years, been providing “Youth Friendly Responsive” Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (ASRHR) services and information primarily targeting young people aged 10-24 years old.
These, he said include; general medical services, counseling services, HIV testing, Condom distribution, antenatal and postnatal services, family planning, and others.
“We have around 33 youth corners in different districts aimed at serving young people with quality responsive SRHR services. So, our model of youth-friendly services is to make sure that
He further noted that creating awareness about young people’s sexual reproductive health and rights is being done through health talks, interactive speeches, debates, interactive clubs, and radio talk shows.
According to Dr. Ampwera, they chose Hoima because Bunyoro Sub Region is a leading teenage pregnancy hotspot, with five districts of; Kagadi, Kikuube, Hoima, Masindi, and Kiryandongo, being among the teenage pregnancy hotspots,
and the sub-counties of Kyangwali (Kikuube District), Bweyale Town Council (Kiryandongo District), Mutunda (Kiryandongo District), and Kabwoya (Kikuube District) are among the 12 leading adolescent pregnancy hotspot sub-counties in the country.
“It’s a One-stop Centre, when a young person walks in whether they have flue or fever, our job is to make sure that we take them on, counsel them and identify any other issue affecting them,” he said.
He added that young people can always get all the information they need by calling the Muvubuka helpline at 0800311222 to speak to a qualified health service provider.
