A report by the National Council for Population and Development shows that 13 percent of adolescents in the country suffer from anxiety and depression.
According to an analysis of the Sessional Paper No.1 of 2023 on the Kenya National Population Policy for Sustainable Development, another 12 percent of adolescents are ‘wasted’ while four per cent harbour suicidal thoughts.
The policy document which was analyzing the morbidity and mortality of adolescents in the country, further shows that out of 1,000 deaths recorded, five of them are those of adolescents between the age of 10 and 14 years.
The Sessional Paper shows that whereas HIV/ AIDS is the leading cause of deaths among girls, malaria is the major cause of death among boys the same age. Another 16 percent of girls aged between 15 and 19 years were dying from teen-pregnancy complications.
“It is estimated that communicable diseases (Malaria, HIV/AIDS and diarrhea) contribute to 64 percent of deaths among boys aged 10-14 years and 69 percent of deaths among girls. The second leading cause of deaths among girls aged 15-19 is maternal conditions, contributing to 16 per cent of the deaths among this age group. However, HIV/ AIDS still remains the leading cause of deaths among the 10-24 year olds,” reads the Sessional Paper No.1 of 2023.
The Sessional Paper No.1 of 2023 on the Kenya National Population Policy for Sustainable Development also says that road accidents are another major contributor of teenage mortality in the country.
According to NCPD, a total of 837 road traffic deaths were reported in 2020 for children aged less than 20 years, accounting for 21 percent of all the deaths.
“Most common injuries affecting this age group are road traffic injuries, suicide and homicide,” says the Paper in part.
Another concern flagged by the report is the prevalence of substance use among teenagers. According to the analysis presented by NCPB during a dissemination exercise in Nyeri County, at least 11 in every 100 adolescents is abusing a drug with 9 per cent using alcohol while 3 per cent of teens in the country are believed to be cigarette or tobacco smokers.
The report has attributed the grim statistics to weak dissemination and implementation of policies which are meant to address adolescent and youth health concerns. The Board also noted that there is poor health-seeking behaviour among the adolescents and young people in the country further exacerbating the situation.
“The major concerns include inadequate age disaggregated data for the various segments of this population group. We also have weak dissemination and implementation of policies, action plans and guidelines meant to address adolescent and youth health,” reads the report in part.
“Also, there are inadequate targeted services for the healthy wellbeing and concerns of the adolescents and young persons,” states that report.
The policy is premised on six pillars namely Population Size, Growth and age structure; Migration and Urbanization; Morbidity and Mortality; Fertility rate; Human Settlement, Environment and Disaster and; Data Research and Innovation.
Further, the NCPB reports says that the goal is to use the data collected to, “Help attain a high quality of life for Kenyans that is secure, healthy, broadly educated, trained and empowered for sustainable development.”
By Wangari Mwangi
