Teen pregnancies Tripple in Migori amid virus pandemic

Teen Pregnancy photo. File

Leaders in Migori County worried about the spike in teenage pregnancies. have cases has triple to 15,000 in 2019 compared to 2018.



However, already the number of teen pregnancies this year 2020 has already surpassed half of 2019 figure.



The rate of underage involving in Marital activities have increased rapidly due to the closure of the schools and floods.




The Medical experts in Migori County have raised the alarm over the high adolescent pregnancy rates in the region that has a negative impact on the lives of the youths.



According to Dr Maurice Owino, this could be the highest number of teenage pregnancies that has ever been registered from a single region in Kenya since independence.




“This could be an indicator of a decaying society or a society that has decided to despair completely on all the matters that are crucial to inculcating good morals in the youth for their better lives,” said Dr Owino.



Statistics from Migori County Family Planning Strategic Plan report indicate that girls in the region begin to bear children at the age of 15-19.




This is 24 percent of the total number of girls aged in that bracket and the highest compared to the national rate which stands at 18 percent.




The report attributes this trend partly to the low use of contraceptives among the adolescent which stands at only 17 per cent in the region.




“We are in the era where a single health mistake will attract serious medical and economic complications to our youth and we better change now if we have to give our children a better life,” added Dr Owino.




Transition to secondary education is 52 per cent with a completion rate of 69.7 per cent. Around 49 percent of children aged 5-14 years old in the region are, unfortunately, engaged in child labour, " says Dr Owino.