• World Health Organization’s Dr. Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli noted that investment in adolescent sexual and reproductive health interventions has a profound impact on the health status and economy of a country.
Image: Mercy Mumo
Funding gaps in adolescent healthcare and reproductive health programmes are hampering efforts to improve key indicators under the Sustainable Development Goals, experts have said.
Prof Marleen Temmerman, director of the center of excellence in women and child health East Africa, said Kenya still has a long way to go to achieve the SDG targets.
This is despite progress made in enhancing access to sexual and reproductive health services, reducing maternal and child mortality and putting an end to gender-based violence.
“Early pregnancy is a barrier to the improvement in the education, economic and social status of young women across the world, including Kenya. This leads to many girls dropping out of school, which in the long-run, reduces their employment opportunities and entrenches poverty in the family,” she said.
The World Health Organization estimates that there are nearly 1.2 billion adolescents (those between 10 and 19 years of age-old) worldwide.
In some countries, adolescents make up as much as a quarter of the population and the number of adolescents is expected to rise through 2050, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
WHO's Dr Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli noted that studies have shown that investment in adolescent sexual and reproductive health interventions has a profound impact on the health status and economy of a country.
“We must advocate keeping adolescent sexual and reproductive health on the agenda. In addition, there is a need to make use of enabling policies in designing effective strategies, build on the learnings of the last 25 years and develop tailor-made health interventions aligned with the needs of adolescents and young people,” he said.
They spoke at the Nairobi Summit International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD25) side-event at the Aga Khan University on Friday.
Speakers at the event recommended the promotion of health interventions for adolescents and youth such as the creation of adolescent-friendly spaces in primary health centers, raising awareness of a range of contraceptive methods, improving outreach and referrals and supporting school retention and re-entry for pregnant adolescents and adolescent mothers.
“As academic institutions, we need to support all the key stakeholders including the government to ensure that we are at the forefront in the full implementation of the ICPD agenda, which is in line with the SDGs agenda,” added Professor Temmerman.