Teenage pregnancy should be addressed urgently

Shocking figures of school dropouts were released recently and no district has been spared this problem. The figures have reached alarming rates, with the Southern District putting the casualties at several hundreds in the last 24 months.

Many of these school dropouts are young girls in their teens and majority of them at junior and senior secondary schools. Despite many prevention tools put in place, these young girls continue to engage in unprotected sex hence the many pregnancies we have seen recently. They are also putting themselves at the risk of contracting the HIV virus, which leads to AIDS.

There are many contributing factors to teenage pregnancy, among them lack of parental guidance; juvenile delinquency and the new kid-on-the-block – cellphones. The latter is a double-edged sword. Parents buy their children cellphones in order for them to communicate effectively during the time when they are separated by the distance. For instance, many parents leave home early in the morning to go to work and therefore the only way of communication with their children is through a cellphone.

Editor's Comment
Routine child vaccination imperative

The recent Vaccination Day in Motokwe, orchestrated through collaborative efforts between UNICEF, USAID, BRCS, and the Ministry of Health, underscores a commendable stride towards fortifying child health services.The painful reality as reflected by the Ministry of Health's data regarding the decline in routine immunisation coverage since the onset of the pandemic, is a cause for concern.It underscores the urgent need to address the...

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