16 M teens give birth every year – UN

MANILA, Philippines - With more than 16 million girls aged 15 to 19 becoming mothers annually, the United Nations has urged countries to have “age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education” for adolescents and the youth in general.

In a statement highlighting yesterday’s celebration of World Population Day, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the girls “who give birth every year never had the opportunity to plan their pregnancy.”

A majority of these young mothers can be found in developing countries.

“Complications from pregnancy and childbirth can cause grave disabilities, such as obstetric fistula, and are the leading causes of death for these vulnerable young women. Adolescent girls also face high levels of illness, injury and death due to unsafe abortion,” he said.

This year’s celebration was focused on adolescent pregnancy which Ban described as a “sensitive topic that demands global attention.”

“To address these problems, we must get girls into primary school and enable them to receive a good education through their adolescence,” he said.

Ban said that when a young girl is educated, she is “more likely to marry later, delay childbearing until she is ready, have healthier children and earn a higher income.”

Ban has sought age-appropriate comprehensive education on sexuality for adolescents and youth which is “especially important to empowering young women to decide when and if they wish to become mothers.”

“In addition, we must provide comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services that cover family planning and the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. And we must guarantee the maternal health services that women need,” he said.

According to Commission on Population (PopCom) acting executive director Rosalinda Marcelino, 9.5 percent of Filipino girls in the 15-19 age group have begun childbearing.

In a statement, Marcelino also said that 12 percent of Filipino women below 20 years old have already been married, citing the National Statistics Office (NSO)’s Family Health Survey in 2011.

Marcelino cautioned that starting to have babies at an earlier age prolongs a woman’s reproductive years, resulting in high fertility and increase in population, high population growth rate, and a high proportion of young population necessitating more resources on health, education, and food on the part of the government.

“Many other critical concerns come with the issue on adolescent pregnancy that make a great impact on the society, such as maternal death, early marriage, limited access to education and employment, poverty, domestic violence, and the threat of HIV/AIDS,” she said.

She added that there is a need to raise global awareness on the status of today’s adolescents to establish reproductive health policies, programs, and services to continue to improve the total wellbeing of the youth.