Girls warned against early sex

The Uganda country director for United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Munir A. Safieldin has cautioned teenage girls against  early sex that he said risks destroying their future since it comes with a number of negative consequences.

He says that HIV/ AIDS cases have gone up in girls as a result of involvement in early sex and he noted the cases among girls between the age of 15 and 19.

He also said it is seriously destroying the wellbeing of many girls as they face teenage pregnancies especially while still in schools.

Safieldin was speaking to students of Iganga secondary school in Iganga district as they  celebrated zero pregnancies in the school after massive pregnancy testing.

He added that two of the three cases of HIV/ AIDS cases reported are among teenage girls resulting from unsafe sex.

“The HIV/ AIDS cases which are currently reported are mainly among teenage girls. So, if you pick up any 3 new cases of HIV/ AIDS you will find that 2 of these 3 cases are teenage girls. This is quite serious because it destroys the health wellbeing of these girls,” Safieldin said.

"We have also seen that teenage pregnancy among girls of age between 15 and 19 is quite high and others are impregnated before reaching the age of 15. Many girls may not continue with education and life becomes very difficult for them and that is why UNICEF is one of the organizations working very closely with a number of government ministries to address this issue in Uganda."

He  also outlined other negative consequences of teenage pregnancy which include dropping out of schools, getting HIV/ AIDS and struggling to care for children.

He added that maternal mortality rate can be reduced in Uganda if teenage pregnancy cases are reduced or brought to zero as well as reducing neonatal mortality in the country.

The Head teacher of the school Ms. Monica Nakaziba  Kayiira said that in previous years, they could register around 2 to 3 cases of pregnancies but they have always talked to the girls about  negative consequences of teenage pregnancies which has helped the school to register zero pregnancy this year.

She also commended the parents for the great work of counseling the students in the holidays, especially the longest ones.

“I want to thank the parents for doing a great work because every end of term we send these girls to them but they come back safe, meaning that they are also playing a very vital role of counseling our girls,” Ms. Nakaziba said.

 

Dr. Brenda Wakana from Jinja regional referral hospital said most girls being impregnated at teenage age are not empowered with information about what goes on with their bodies and they easily fall prey to sex predators and end up seeking for abortions if not counseled.

 

“We realized that most of the girls coming pregnant to hospitals have not been empowered with information about what is going on with their bodies and the people who approach them asking for sex while offering things like chapati take advantage of that,” she said.

 

Dr. Wakana rallied all schools and various stakeholders to strengthen the fight against teenage pregnancies by empowering the girls from primary schools with necessary information and also get to know about their challenges with the aim of addressing them.