Global Issue- "Teen Pregnancy in Africa"

College of Western Idaho

Teen Pregnancy in Africa

Ariel Rivera

December 3, 2011

Leslie Jewkes

English 102-034W

Abstract

          Teen pregnancy rates in Africa must be lowered.  Their numbers are very high, not only in teen pregnancies but in HIV/AID cases.  Teen girls are being discriminated against for seeking out birth control which is absurd.  Kids must be educated at younger ages in order to instill all the proper tools in them to be better aware of teen pregnancies.    

         

Teen Pregnancy in Africa

            Teen pregnancy in Africa is at startling numbers and providing sex education at a younger age must be done in order to reduce the overall number of teen pregnancies.  Young girls are becoming pregnant despite sex awareness programs.  In Africa, not all teenagers want to become pregnant but are being forced to do so.    

            In Africa there is a belief, the more children you bring into the world, the more blessed you become.  Africans believe even if you have money, a man is wealthier if he has a lot of children.   “Children as young as 12 an 13 year olds are giving birth every minute in Africa” (Africaw Group).  Teenagers are dropping out of school because of their pregnancies. “…adolescents under 16 are facing four times the risk of maternal death as women over 20” (World Health Organization).  Most of the teenagers becoming pregnant, do not want to be.  Teens will be so desperate as to get illegal abortions and which sometimes causes death.  Some African teens want abortions but cannot afford them so these teens will drink these concoctions of toxins in the hopes it will terminate the pregnancy, but sometimes end up killing themselves in the process.  The fact that abortions are illegal in Africa makes it harder to obtain one by a licensed physician.   

            There are African teens that are trying to prevent pregnancy but feel judged by doing so.  “According to a recent MRC study, 'Blood Blockages and Scolding Nurses: Barriers to Adolescent Contraceptive Use in South Africa', "Nurses' attitudes were a major barrier to teenagers getting hold of contraception. The nurses were uncomfortable about providing teenagers with contraception, as they felt they should not be having sex. The Nurses responded to requests for contraception in a manner that was highly judgmental and unhelpful. The girls described it as 'harassment'" (IRIN).  Although there are some teens wanting to prove their fertility and have babies so they can be seen as women, other teens are being requested to have babies from their mothers because the mothers want the presence of another baby in the home.

The high rate of teen pregnancies in Africa has also lead to their rise in HIV/AID cases.  In the Sub-Saharan Africa area the amount of HIV/AID cases is at a high of sixty-seven point seven percent.  Teens are either willingly or being forced to have unprotected sex and transferring the disease at an alarming rate. 

A child support grant was instated in Africa, and some observers think this was seen as an incentive for teen girls to get pregnant.  However, "A recent survey of 1,500 girls aged between 15 and 24 indicated that only 2 percent cited the child-care grant as an incentive. About 25 percent just said they wanted to have a baby." Other influencing factors - accounting for 20 percent - were "social pressures and self-affirmation" (IRIN).  There has been no research done to determine the male role in the problem of teen pregnancy.

            The Medical Research Center has made some recommendations they believe will help lower the numbers of teen pregnancy in Africa.  The Medical Research Center recommends sex education in school before reaching the age of fourteen because that is when most teens are becoming sexually active.  Keeping the teens in school is most important.  Young girls that remain in school are less likely to become pregnant than young girls that drop out of school.  Hleki Mabunda, Gender Equity Director of The Department of Basic Educations said “Life Orientation classes in the curriculum were also being used to create awareness on the problem. There was also a need to re-establish mobile clinics for health screening in schools, where health professionals, instead of teachers, would be able to identify pregnant youngsters” (Hweshe).  The Medical Research Center also recommends, "information for teenagers about avoiding sexually transmitted diseases, providing detailed information about contraception and its side effects; better management and training for nurses, so they can deal sympathetically with teenagers requiring contraception and provide the necessary information and education campaigns that take away the stigma of teenage sexuality, that girls are not afraid to ask for contraception" (IRIN). 

            There are steps that can be done to help prevent these unintended pregnancies:

“Adolescents require:

• information including comprehensive sex education;
• access to a full range of sexual and reproductive health services, including condoms, other means of contraception as appropriate and other interventions for the prevention, treatment and care of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV; and
• safe and supportive environments free from exploitation and abuse” (World Health Organization).

It is outrageous what teen girls in Africa have to do to abort their pregnancies and should not have to go to such extreme measures.  Sex education steps must be followed to help these young girls know how to prevent themselves from getting pregnant.  Not only does Africa need to focus on helping teen girls but research must be done to educate all males in Africa.  In following guidelines and educating all people in Africa, it ought to lower Africa’s numbers of HIV/AID cases and teen pregnancies.

Works Cited

Adolescent Pregnancy in Africa.  Howard E. Kulin, 2008.  Web.  3 Nov.  2011.

AfricaW: Africa and the World.  AfricaW Group, 2006-2011.  Web.  12 Nov.  2011.

All Africa Media.  BuaNews, 2011.  Web.  12 Nov.  2011.

Children’s Institute.  HIV & Aids and STI National Strategic Plan, 2007-2011.  Web.  3            Nov. 2011.

Free Malaysia Today.  South Africa Worries Over Rising Teen Pregnancy, 2011.  Web.  3 Nov.  2011.

IRIN.  OCHA, 2011.  Web.  12 Nov.  2011.

Making Pregnancy Safer.  World Health Organization, 2011.  Web.  3 Nov.  2011.

Science, Technology, and AIDS.  World Press, 2011.  Web.  3 Nov. 2011.