Teenage pregnancy on the rise
There is evidence supporting the Reproductive Health law that calls for sexuality education among young students. I am not for teaching the kids to engage in “safe” sex, but rather, for telling them why they should not engage in early sex, and yes, before marriage. With regulated sexuality education, the young are informed about sex, pregnancy, unplanned and planned, instead of through the internet or pornographic magazines that somehow manage to reach them. Peep into their rooms and you’ll see copies of Playboy and Penthouse and other sexy publications tucked between the bed sheets, and for-adults-only videos in the internet.
Figures made available to us show that globally, 14-16 million adolescent girls between 15 and 19 years old give birth every year and pregnancy-related deaths are the leading cause of death for girls at such young ages.
Honing home, we have copies of the 2011 annual report of the UNFPA-Philippines office which report that teen pregnancies in the country rose by 70 percent in a span of 10 years from 114,205 in 1999 to 195,662 in 2009.
These statistics were revealed at a press conference the other day by officials of the National Youth Commission, the UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund), Commission on Population, the National Statistics Office and civil society organizations. At the end of the conference the call was made for collective actions to address the issue.
Benjamin de Leon, president of the Forum for Family Planning and Development, an NGO working on adolescent health issues, expressed alarm that almost 10 percent of all Filipino women aged 15-19 have already given birth. “This is a reality that we must address, he said.
There is an urgency for all sectors “to work together to help address adolescent reproductive health issues and teen pregnancy because of the health and economic implications to the country,” he said. “A high rate of teen pregnancy also means a high risk for maternal deaths among our young girls.”
The same alarming message was made by Carmelita Ericta, administrator of the National Statistics Office (NSO). “There is an increasing trend of maternal deaths among teenagers,” she said. “The proportion of maternal deaths doubled from 5 percent to 10 percent between 2000 and 2010. The number of babies born to teenage mothers also increased from 7.1 percent to 11 percent.”
NSO data also show that 13-14 percent of all registered marriages are among teenagers below 20 years old while data from the National Youth Commission show that the rate of teen pregnancy in the country is among the highest in the ASEAN region and the only country where the rate is increasing.
The global issue of teen pregnancy is the reason why the annual celebration of World Population Day — July 11 — led by UNFPA, focuses on addressing teen pregnancy.
“The Philippines joins the rest of the world in calling the attention of government and civil society groups to help address rising teen pregnancies through better policies, improved education and information campaigns and programs that can reach our adolescents in schools, in communities or wherever they may be,” de Leon said.
9:26 AM
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