BY ALEX PITHUA
Fresh detail have emerged in Zombo district about the high rate of teenage pregnancy triggering worry in effort to curb the vice.
The District health department have now recorded 571 teenage pregnancies amongst the adolescent girls out of 2, 325 mothers who visited the various health facilities for antenatal care during the month of January and February 2024.
From 2020-2023, The District suffered from massive teenage pregnancies during the coronavirus and the prolonged lock down in Uganda. The District community development office and the probation department reported over 9000 teenage pregnancies orchestrating massive school dropout in the primary education.
Presenting this report last week in an engagement with Officials from the Ministry of gender, labour and social development, religious and political leaders, technical and Civil society organizations in the Zombo district boardroom, Wanok Patrick, The District entomologist caretaker who doubles as statistician planning unit called for a concerted effort to curtail the high rate of pregnancies amongst the adolescence.
Wanok emphasized that the most affected Sub-Counties are Atyak, Alangi, Aka, Zeu and Warr and Paidha Town Councils respectively.
” The postal management information system recorded during antenatal management system is already 27.1 percent and so far the worst as compared to national standard which is 24.6 percent” Wanok explained adding that this might be beyond if not controlled this year.
He has attributed that the 0.5 per cent of the 27.1 per cent came from The Democratic Republic of Congo.
Sunde Alex Bashaija, The senior probation and welfare officer in the ministry of gender, labour and social development emphasized that the national strategies to end teenage pregnancies and early marriages is suppose to be implemented to bring down teenage pregnancies amongst the young people.
He said the government has learnt that so many young people who are getting pregnant become non productive. He has encouraged the young people to involve in productive activities for socio-economic transformation and development through joining skilling institutions.
The Zombo District education officer Nickolas Odeba has blamed the high teenage pregnancy rate to bad practice and community attitude.
Meanwhile a number of participants zeroed their arguments on the poor parenting urging for more training on parental responsibilities.
The participants also urged the government in it’s planning to pay special attention to Zombo District given the chronic cases and the spill from the DR Congo.
Last year, a number of civil society organizations in greater Nebbi joined Zombo District and Alur Kingdom in an effort to curb the high rate of teenagers pregnancies but , the effort seems to yield yet low and therefore more work need to be done.
