Gloria Muruva — Health experts have urged the Government to urgently implement measures to address the rising number of child pregnancies, largely through ensuring adolescent girls had support and back-up so they could step away from early sexual relationships.
The national teenage pregnancy rate stands at 22 percent, and is the highest contributor to school dropouts among adolescent girls.
AIDS is also a leading cause of death among adolescents, at 50 percent, with at least 48 percent of young people aged 10 to 24 years not aware of their HIV status. This contrasts with the total of 95 percent of the total population living with HIV who are now aware.
In an interview, a psychologist Mr Daniel Tarisayi, said there were other health challenges associated with early pregnancies, most of which contribute to the country's high maternal mortality rate.
"Besides physical challenges like premature death, dying whilst giving birth accompanied with psycho-social problems and emotional problems, there is one condition which is quite rampant with early pregnancy, which is called postpartum depression," he said.
"This is the depression that comes soon after giving birth and this is a very serious condition that might lead to infanticide, suicide, drug and substance abuse as one tries to cope with the emotional crisis."
Mr Tarisayi said young girls also face social discrimination and isolation in communities as most of them are forced to drop out of school and face a lot of stigma, a development that worsens psycho-social challenges like depression and stress.
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Community Working Group on Health executive director, Mr Itai Rusike, said a lot could be done to curb early pregnancies.
"Despite Zimbabwe having a very progressive Child Marriage Act, the country continues to witness an unacceptably high rate of early pregnancies. Some cultural and religious beliefs including the use of drugs and other prohibited substances are contributing to the worrisome situation, hence the need for some strict enforcement of the existing laws, with dire consequences," he said.
Adolescent girls should be encouraged to stay in school and should be well-equipped with strategies that address sexual reproductive health services. They had no bargaining power when faced with making decisions about sex, particularly when dealing with older partners, he said.
"There is a lot of pressure for the girl child especially one from a child headed family with a lot of responsibilities, but who is not empowered to walk through the system after sexual abuse. We need to go back to the basics and revive our African family support structure and culture to prevent early child pregnancy through awareness on the meaning of marriage, importance of education, skills and professional careers for the girl child," he added.
Mr Rusike called on traditional and religious leaders to play a part in providing guidance to the girl child to curb early marriage and pregnancies.
