MBUGUA JOHN: Make contraceptives accessible to young people

Access to contraceptives is a crucial sexual reproductive health and right for men and women of their reproductive age.

Availability of contraceptives reduces the chances of unintended pregnancies that often result in unsafe abortions.

In Kenya, teen pregnancy is at 82 births per 1000 births being the highest rate as of 2019 global childhood statistics.

According to the Kenya data and health survey 2014, one in every five girls aged 10-19 years is pregnant or has had their first child.

This translates to 378,397 adolescent and teenage pregnancies for girls aged 10-19 years.

Between July 2016 and June 2017, 28,932 girls aged 10-14 and 349,465 girls aged 15-19 became pregnant according to United Nations Population Fund.

Even though Kenya is a signatory to the world agenda on contraceptives and family planning(FP2030) and has shown a great track record on contraception uptake last year by surpassing the national target of 58 to 59 per cent, adolescents and youth continue to face legislative and systemic barriers when it comes to access.    

Adolescents’ decision to use contraceptives is often influenced by a myriad of contextual factors including gender inequalities, socio-cultural norms, structural barriers and individual barriers.

Failure to implement peer-to-peer sexuality education in and out of school contributes to the inaccessibility of contraception even though many are sexually active and vulnerable to unsafe sex practices.

Parental consent for adolescents to access contraceptives is another hindrance to contraceptive access that is protected by the restrictive policies and laws denying adolescents the right to access the highest standards of reproductive health services. 

Despite the Ministry of Health adolescent and youth-friendly SRHR services policy 2016, lack of adolescent and youth-friendly services in public health facilities limit access to contraceptives.

There is a dire need to increase sensitization to youths on the multiple options of contraceptive methods.

We should dispel all myths and misconceptions regarding contraceptives as well as retrogressive cultural norms that make it hard for adolescents and young people to access contraceptives.      

County governments should gradually increase budgetary allocation for family planning to reduce donor dependency and widen access to adolescents and youth in hard-to-reach areas.

Kenya needs to recommit to Comprehensive Sexuality Education if it’s serious in promoting quality health and wellbeing among adolescents and young people.    

Every person including adolescents and young people should have the right to decide on contraceptive use. 

Of particular, adolescents and young people have the right to make free and informed decisions on bodily autonomy and sexual reproductive health.

Contraceptives enable adolescents and young people to make healthy choices for a better future and by extension prevent sexual transmitted and infections, unsafe abortions and unwanted pregnancies.

The writer is a team leader for Angaza youth initiative and RHNK youth committee

 

Edited by Kiilu Damaris