4.4 million teenagers engage in abortion annually – Expert

By Baba Negedu Reporter, Kaduna

A university Don and Community Physician with the Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU) Zaria, Dr. Clara Ejembi, has said that over 4.4 million teenagers are engaged in abortion annually across the globe.

She said the situation is brought about because 60 percent of pregnancies are either mistimed or unwanted among adolescents and that it is a globally phenomenon.

The physician who disclosed this while presenting a paper titled “overview of Adolescent Reproductive Health in Nigeria” at the 2011 conference of the Nigeria Association of Health Educators at ABU Zaria, said that 50 percent of such abortion takes place in the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

According to her, 13 percent of all maternal mortality (worldwide) annually takes place among adolescents, with Africa accounting for about of maternal mortality in some countries and that between 40% and 58% of sexual assaults are committed against girls aged 15 years and younger.

Ejembi also revealed that two out of every five teenage pregnancies in Nigeria are believed to end up in unsafe abortion, while 50 to 70 percent of admissions for abortion complications take place in girls aged 15 to 19 years old.

She stressed that despite formulating and launching a national adolescent health policy in 1997 and revised in 2001 by the federal government, there has been no step by government at all level to provide a budgetary line for programmes for this important age group.

Ejembi disclosed that as a result of the pioneering work of Action Health, the Federal Ministry of Education approved the teaching of sexuality education curriculum in Nigerian schools while the National Family Life (HIV/AIDS) education curriculum was adopted in 2003 with the various states expected to adopt the contents to suit their peculiar environment.

She lamented that as a result of public reactions against the curriculum mainly by parents and faith based groups, the content has not been applied in school, resulting in the high rate of reproductive health related risk among adolescents in the country. Adolescents she said represents a very important national resource in the life of any nation, but lamented that their reproductive health status is very poor, thereby compromising their future due to inadequate Adolescent Reproductive Health Programs and services for the vast majority of the youths. She pointed out the need to address “our personal prejudices and engage in responding to their Reproductive Health needs”, this she said “calls for multi-sectoral and multi-dimensional strategies and inter-sectoral collaboration; with the active engagement of the youths themselves”.

She said studies have shown that 23 percent of girls in Nigeria between the ages of 15 and 19 are either pregnant or carrying their first child, with the north western part of the country accounting for the highest figure of 45 percent, while the south east account for the lowest figure of 8 percent. She identified lack of awareness and knowledge of relevant Reproductive Health issues among young people, limited or poor access to credible sources of information as part of the problem, adding that negative traditional, religious and socio-cultural beliefs; limited access to relevant reproductive health services; and where available, usually not youth –friendly are also to blame.
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