The National Council for Population and Development (NCPB) has revealed that 50 per cent of the children born in Samburu County are the children of teenage mothers between the ages of fifteen and nineteen.
Speaking during a population stakeholders’ forum in Maralal town, South Rift Region Population Coordinator Janet Lunyao said that 50 per cent of teenage girls between the ages of 15 to 19 in Samburu County have ever been pregnant.
Lunyao noted that teenage pregnancies infringe on the girls’ fundamental rights to education and called upon stakeholders to continue mitigating the rising teenage pregnancies through the triple threat approach.
She mentioned that as a way of tackling the teenage pregnancy menace, the NCPB, in partnership with the National Government Administration Officers (NGAO) and other government entities and stakeholders, runs a campaign on the triple threat, which includes teenage pregnancy, HIV, and gender-based violence (GBV).
“Teenage pregnancies in Samburu County may lead to new HIV infections and early marriages, which might lead to GBV, so the triple threat is a comprehensive commitment plan aimed at eradicating new HIV infections, GBV, and teenage pregnancies,” she said.
Lunyao also noted that there are various demographic indicators that need a lot of effort from the stakeholders, noting that 53 per cent of households in Samburu County don’t have a pit latrine and family members prefer the open defecation method.
“Eighty-six percent of Samburu residents have no health insurance coverage, raising the dependency ratio to 108:100, which is high compared to the country’s dependency ratio of 75:100, and infant mortality stands at 38 percent,” Lunyao noted.
The forum drew stakeholders from government and non-government players in the field of population, where the population policy sessional paper number one of 2023 was disseminated.
By Robert Githu
