Menongue - The maternity hospital in eastern Cuando Cubango province has registered an average 30 cases of pregnant children and teenagers between the ages of 11 and 15 every day.
According to the maternity nursing director, Virgínia Manjolo, this phenomenon requires the involvement of all social and community agents to prevent and eradicate this high rate of early pregnancies.
The official said the time has come to redouble all actions to reverse the situation, making children understand that the priority is to study and safeguard their future.
‘At the moment what worries the maternity ward the most is the high rate of pregnant women at an inappropriate age, we have girls between the ages of 11 and 15 getting pregnant,’ the nursing director said.
Virgínia Manjolo added that from January to July 2024, at least 120 teenagers were treated in the labor department, 17 had abortions, while 46 were infected with HIV.
According to the expert, cultural issues, as well as social phenomena such as hunger and poverty coupled with lack of dialogue within the family are some of the reasons behind the increase in early pregnancies.
She called for the implementation of policies to occupy children with school activities, productive activities, leisure and other programs so that they don't find sexual practice as a priority or a solution to their problems.
The health official repudiated the attitude of certain men who, despite being adults, insist on having sexual relations with children and adolescents, most of them ending up pregnant.
The number of children already infected with the HIV virus is frightening, said the official, who defended the need for the active participation of the HIV focus group at provincial level.
According to the doctor, the maternity hospital assists more than a hundred users a day in outpatient consultations in various specialties, from family planning, prenatal care, treatment and cutting vertical transmission, among others. MSM/FF/MS/DAN/AMP
