Teenage pregnancy rate too high

Although there has been a significant decline in the fertility rate in Namibia from 4.5 children per woman in 1996 to 3.3 in 2019, the teenage pregnancy rate remains high at 19%.“This means that one in five women aged 15 to 19 years has begun childbearing.”This is according to an UNFPA report titled ‘Synthesis report - Namibia: Investment Case Towards Ending Unmet Need for Family Planning’.The report says the estimated number of teenage pregnancies doubled in 2020, which may have been a result of the Covid-19 lockdown.According to the education ministry, Namibia recorded about 3 627 teenage pregnancies in 2020“Many cases of unintended pregnancies among adolescent girls lead to school drop-out, spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, death from pregnancy complications and unsafe abortion.”The report says it is difficult to determine the scale of unsafe abortion and associated consequences on maternal health outcomes and the healthcare costs to individuals and society because abortion is criminalised in Namibia.“Available data suggests unsafe abortions may have reached the 7 000 mark in 20173 and accounted for about 12% to 16% of maternal deaths.Contraceptive useIt says in the past decade, Namibia has experienced a significant increase in the delivery and uptake of contraceptives.The contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) increased from 23% in 1992 to about 61% in 2020.“Modern contraceptive prevalence rate increased from 21% to 58% within the same period.”The report says that the portion of married women with the unmet need for family planning has declined from 24% in 1992 to 15% in 2019.“However, the country still has a long way to meet its national CPR target of 80% by 2030.”Baby boomAccording to the report, Namibia recorded significant progress in decreasing the under-five mortality rate from a high rate of 118 deaths per 1 000 live births in 1968 to 31 deaths per 1 000 live births in 2012.However, the rate was still above the target of 24 deaths per 1 000 live births live births set for attainment in 2015.Namibia’s population is expected to continue to grow significantly for the next few years, even as the fertility rate declines.“To achieve its desired socioeconomic transformation, Namibia needs to accelerate targeted investments in its youthful population to ensure they become an empowered and productive workforce and change agents for prosperity.”According to the report the total fertility rate target of 2.0 by 2030 hinges on the government’s ability to increase CPR to at least 75% by 2030.It says the unmet need for family planning will decline from 15.2% to 7.5% if the CPR is increased to 75% and to 5.1% if the CPR is increased to 80 percent by 2030.

Teenage pregnancy rate too high

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-05-06

Please login to leave a comment

Teenage pregnancy rate too high

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-05-06

Please login to leave a comment

Login