Ghana – 6,000 Adolescents In Volta Region Pregnant – Stakeholders Urged To Address Trend

20-May-2023

According to Ghana Statistical Service data from the 2021 Population and Housing Census, about 79,733 girls in Ghana aged 12 to 17 have been in a union, either married or living together with a man. Out of this number, 25,999 are girls of junior high school-going age (12 to 14 years).

In the Volta Region, it states that one out of four girls are married or are in a union before 18 years. According to the GHS District Health Information Management System (DHIMS), over 6,000 girls got pregnant between 2020 and 2021 alone.

Continued: https://www.peacefmonline.com/pages/local/news/202305/487762.php

20.05.2023

News

adolescent pregnancy

domestic violence

gender-based violence

Ghana Health Service

Hilda Kotoh

Thywill Eyra Kpe

United Nations Fund for Population Activities

Vietnam – Teenagers lack knowledge about reproductive health

SGGP
February 21, 2023

Some medical experts believed that minors lack basic knowledge and skills on protection and care for reproductive and sexual health, so they easily become victims of sexual abuse, leading to bad consequences. Lack of parents' and relatives’ care and schooling also worsened the problem.

According to the World Health Organization, children entering adolescence are going through many physical and psychological changes like exploring their own capabilities and expanding many new relationships. Teenagers having early sexual intercourse have a higher risk of sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancy, and unsafe abortion.

Continued: https://www.sggpnews.org.vn/teenagers-lack-knowledge-about-reproductive-health-post100396.html

State-level Abortion Restrictions Will Negatively Impact Teens and Children

Hannah Lantos, Emma Pliskin, Elizabeth Wildsmith, Jennifer Manlove
October 20, 2022

In a major public health success, the teen pregnancy rate has declined substantially over the past several decades, as has the teen abortion rate. In 2017, teens accounted for only 6 percent of all pregnancies and 9 percent of all abortions, compared to 12 percent and 17 percent, respectively, in 2006 (see Figure 1). We expect, however, that the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe V. Wade will be harmful for teens, particularly for populations at higher risk of unintended pregnancy—including Black, Hispanic, or Indigenous teens; teens who are bisexual; teens who live in low-income families; and teens who live in the South—due to the many systemic hardships undergirding health disparities more broadly in the United States. These hardships drive lower access to high-quality sexual and reproductive health care, contraception, confidential care, unbiased and nondiscriminatory health care, and comprehensive sex education.

Continued: https://www.childtrends.org/blog/state-level-abortion-restrictions-will-negatively-impact-teens-and-children

20.10.2022

Too many have suffered under Ghana’s abortion laws. Ending Roe v Wade risks our hope for change

In a country where stigma, poverty and religious beliefs compound anti-abortion laws, a rollback on US rights will only embolden extremists

Bisi Adjapon, The Guardian
Mon 23 May 2022

No one knew she’d had multiple abortions. Not even me, a lifelong friend. “I can’t even count how many times I had to do it. He wouldn’t let me use contraception and he wouldn’t wear anything.” Sitting opposite her at a restaurant, I felt deep anguish. This was a prominent Ghanaian official.

She told me how my novel, The Teller of Secrets, had stirred memories she had tried to suppress. It was not the only shame-filled confession triggered by the book. An award-winning Ghanaian film-maker messaged me to share harrowing accounts of a Muslim woman’s abortions she couldn’t make public. Literary friends of mine have confided similar pain. Almost every African woman I know, mid-30s and above, has had an abortion or two, or more.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/may/23/too-many-have-suffered-under-ghana-abortion-laws-ending-roe-wade-risks-hope-for-change

India – State of World Population Report: A case for action in the neglected crisis of unintended pregnancy

by Oneindia Correspondent
Thursday, March 31, 2022

The State of World Population (SoWP) is an annual report published by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the sexual and reproductive health agency of the United Nations.

Each edition covers and analyses developments and trends in world population and demographics, as well as shedding light on specific regions, countries and population groups and the unique challenges they face. Each year, SoWP focuses on a particular theme and presents an in-depth analysis on the subject matter covered. The SoWP 2022 brings the spotlight to a critical theme: Expecting more: The preventable crisis of unintended pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.oneindia.com/india/state-of-world-population-report-a-case-for-action-in-the-neglected-crisis-of-unintended-pregnancy-3390013.html?story=2

India Loves Children, But Ignores Reproductive Health

By Ishita Bagchi
10th February, 2022

India has made a significant progress in improving women’s and young people’s sexual and reproductive health. These advancements include the National Family Planning Programme’s expansion of the contraceptive method mix, efforts to strengthen the contraceptive supply chain, and the 2014 launch of the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (National Adolescent Health Programme), which prioritises healthy development during adolescence.

Still there are significant gaps in meeting adolescent sexual and reproductive health needs. Many adolescents have limited agency to protect and foster their sexual and reproductive health due to a lack of accurate information, provider bias, and other barriers; and obtaining comprehensive abortion care can be especially difficult. In addition, adolescents who are marginalised because of their sexuality, gender expression, or marital status face additional challenges in getting information and services. Access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care for all adolescents must be addressed to exercise their bodily autonomy and live healthy lives.

Continued: https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2022/02/sexual-and-reproductive-health-of-women-in-india/

10.02.2022

National Adolescent Health Programme

National Family Planning Programme

sexual and reproductive health

Paraguay’s Draconian Abortion Law Punishes Rape Survivors

Strict abortion prohibitions do not stop women and girls from having abortions; they just force them to have unsafe abortions, putting their lives and health at risk.

Tamara Taraciuk Broner, Santiago Menna – Human Rights Watch
January 5, 2022

In mid-November, a Paraguayan government hotline received a report of suspected sexual abuse against a 13-year-old Indigenous girl in a community near the border with Brazil. The case was assigned to Roselí Echeguren, a lawyer in a government office for the protection of children’s rights in Paraguay.

Echeguren told Human Rights Watch that community members had noticed that the girl had started to wear a girdle. Echeguren went to see the girl and took her to the hospital, where doctors confirmed that she was pregnant. The girl told her she had kept silent “out of fear.”

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/01/05/paraguays-draconian-abortion-law-punishes-rape-survivors

Sexual violence and abortion restrictions in Paraguay are fueling an epidemic of childhood pregnancy: Amnesty

By Kara Fox, CNN
Wed December 1, 2021

(CNN) An epidemic of childhood pregnancy in Paraguay is being fueled by widespread sexual abuse and restrictive abortion laws, according to a new Amnesty International report.

At least 1,000 girls aged 14 or younger gave birth in the country between 2019 and 2020, the report says. It adds that more than 12,000 teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 19 gave birth in 2019.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/01/americas/paraguay-pregnancy-child-abuse-sexual-violence-intl/index.html

Protecting and promoting SRHR of adolescents and young adults

20 October 2021
FIGO, Committee for Contraception and Family Planning

Early and unintended pregnancies put at risk the health and lives of young women and girls. Around the world, complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death and the third highest cause of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost for 15–19-year-old girls. Pregnant adolescents also face a higher risk of severe conditions such as eclampsia than women aged 20 to 24 years.

A health care conversation with a young person is incomplete if it does not mention sexual health, including safe, consensual, pleasurable sex, contraception and infection prevention. Yet despite this, so many young women and girls do not have access to the education or information they need to make safe and informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health, including on abortions.

Continued: https://www.figo.org/news/protecting-and-promoting-srhr-adolescents-and-young-adults

20.10.2021

Featured

adolescent pregnancy

Committee for Contraception and Family Planning

FIGO

sexual and reproductive health and rights

Study Shows That India’s Teen Pregnancy Has Been Dropping Steadily For The Past 20 Years

By Mahima Negi
December 9, 2020

A population-based study was published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health aimed to document ‘trends and inequalities in the prevalence of adolescent motherhood across low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).‘

The results of this study will help in supporting the adolescent sexual and reproductive health target in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Continued: https://edtimes.in/study-shows-that-indias-teen-pregnancy-has-been-dropping-steadily-for-the-past-20-years/

09.12.2020