Teen pregnancies have dropped countrywide from 404,763 cases in 2018 to 326,072 in October this year, according to the Ministry of Health.
The decline in the coastal region alone was quite significant.
The ministry attributes the drop to political goodwill and health advocacy programmes.
“We have since seen a drop in the number of teenage pregnancies in Kilifi county following intense engagements with youth at sub-county and ward levels through targeted social and medical campaigns," county Health CEC Anisa Omar said.
Omar said this followed the launch of a youth-led strategic plan on sexual and reproductive health in April. "This has also enlisted political will and support from the county governor.”
Last year, more than 100 girls sat their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam while pregnant in Kilifi.
Some of the candidates gave birth in school, others on their way to school and others in health facilities.
At a two-day adolescent and youth health and wellbeing symposium in Kwale county, Tana River Health executive Mwanajuma Hiribae said the county is in the process of reviving the gender-based violence recovery centre started by one of their development partners.
Prof Marleen Temmerman, director of the Centre for Excellence in Women and Child Health at the Aga Khan University, said the symposium provided a platform for stakeholders to provide evidence-based strategies, practices, and policies.
“Kenya’s youth constitute more than half of the population, hence the need for interventions to enhance their health now and in adulthood. We need to move from paper to action. We hope to get commitments from county governments as well as development partners and stakeholders to implement the policies and strategies on adolescent and youth health,” Temmerman said.
The symposium was a joint initiative by the AKU International Centre for Reproductive Health and Coast county governments.
