Prevent unwanted pregnancies - Aceng

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

The Minister of Health, Ruth Jane Aceng wants the population to be vigilant in fighting the increasing cases of unwanted pregnancies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aceng said  teenage pregnancies in most of the districts were rising as a result of the lockdown.

"We need to not only focus on COVID-19, there are other diseases the ministry together with development partners must continue to provide essential services and support reproductive health," Aceng said. 

She was receiving a consignment of one million condoms at the Ministry Head Offices in Kampala recently. Aceng noted that there is need to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDs and unwanted pregnancies, in order to reduce on the high maternity mortality rate.

According to Ministry of Health, due to teenage pregnancy Uganda is also struggling with high fertility (5.4 children per woman), a high population growth rate of 3.0 percent and a youthful population with a high dependency.

According to the UNFPA teenage pregnancy, which is estimated at (25%) in Uganda  remains one of the contributing factors  of high school dropout and high maternal mortality rates which affect the country's development agenda.

Uganda's total fertility, maternal mortality, and teenage pregnancy rates remain among the highest globally; however, government is committed to scale up the use of modern family planning methods to ensure that every Ugandan woman can choose when and how many children to have.

UNFPA's report of 2020 indicates that condom use in the country has declined from 38% in 2000 to 24% in 2018. Condom usage has played a key role in Uganda's official HIV prevention strategy for the last 20 years.

The Chief Executive Officer, Dembe group, Anil Damani said his organization launched operations in Uganda to support the country's achievement in family planning and HIV prevention goals through social marketing of high quality contraception products.

He said government of Uganda has over the years called for joint efforts from all sectors in fighting HIV as a public health challenge.

Damani said the donation of Fiesta Condoms, which were made for the premium market in Uganda, will support the work of the Ministry of Health and the Uganda Aids Commission.

"The condoms will be distributed through the public sector channels in rural and remote areas where other socially marketed condoms are not readily available," he emphasised.