Teenage pregnancies have hit worrying levels in Kabale with the district recording a total of 1300 cases in only one year.
This means that on average there are three to four girls made pregnant in Kabale on a daily basis.
Dr. Gilbert Arinaitwe Mateeka, the District Health Officer has revealed that not only for the previous year did Kabale record over 1300 cases of teenage pregnancies but even in the previous years.
He made the report during a stakeholder’s dialogue organized by the Local Sustainable Communities Organization –LOSCO at White Horse Inn Kabale, to discuss Sexual Reproductive Health Issues in the District.
The report read out by Dr. Gilbert Mateeka indicated that Kabale District registered 1,346 teenage pregnancies in 2020, 1,479 cases in 2021 and 1,478 cases in 2022. He said there’s also a large number of undocumented cases that are not included in the report because the victims never seek professional medical assistance.
The D.H.O explained that the teenage pregnancies are usually unwanted and unprepared for, resulting in both health and psychological effects on the lives of the victims. The effects include complications during pregnancy and at the time of delivery, while some teens end up in abortion and risks that come along.
He further noted that the biggest percentage of the victims end up dropping out of School, bringing their education career and life dreams to an end.
The Kabale District Senior Health Educator, Dr. Alfred Besigensi and the Executive Director of Kigezi Women in Development (KWID), Florence Tumuheirwe, attributed the problem to insufficient sexuality education. They argued that teenagers engage in sex at an early stage because they do not fully understand the consequences involved, and how to avoid them.
