AT a recent forum, President David Granger identified teenage pregnancy as a major concern. President Granger’s worry is well founded and should be one shared by all Guyanese.

Teenage pregnancy, unfortunately, is indeed a problem which affects too many families. The problem is a complex one which can have social, economic, and health implications, and must therefore be addressed.

Teenage pregnancy occurs when a girl becomes pregnant and is expected to give birth before her twentieth birthday. The issue has been extensively studied by experts and its effects are well known, but a solution is harder to find. Experts recognise two sets of problems. In girls younger than 15 years old, health and medical issues dominate as their bodies may not be sufficiently mature to sustain a normal pregnancy, and give birth. In girls older than fifteen, the major concerns tend to be the lack of social and economic readiness for motherhood.

In any case, teenage pregnancy at any age usually negatively impacts the mother, the child, and other family members. According to studies, a baby born to a teenage mother is more likely to be born prematurely, have low birth weight, and have congenital defects. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a child born to a girl between the ages of 15 and 19 years old is two times more likely to die, as a child born to a woman between 20 and 24 years. More alarmingly, a child born to a girl younger than 14 years is five times more likely to die. Additionally, according to the WHO, teenage mothers are 7 times more likely to be suicide victims compared with other teens.

If the child survives, he is more likely to have lifelong medical and socio-economic problems. Chances are he will have a lower level of education, intellectual delays, developmental and behavioural disorders, lower academic achievement, a higher chance of poverty, and generally, have a lower quality of life. Daughters born to teenage mothers are more likely to become teenage mothers themselves; while sons are more likely to go to prison in their teenage years.

Evidently, the problem is serious and complicated; it has been the subject of studies by medical doctors, psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists, economists, and other scientists. Many of those specialists agree that cultural factors, low levels of education and poverty are major contributing factors because some teens, as a result of those circumstances, may be more susceptible to abuse or coercion, or lack access to birth control. Also, medical specialists agree that some drugs of abuse have a positive correlation with teenage pregnancy, particularly alcohol, cannabis and ecstasy, all of which reduce inhibition in humans. Obviously, with so many factors contributing to the dynamic, a single solution is unlikely to be found.

In Guyana, for example, domestic abuse–including sexual abuse – is a big problem. And a study in the United Kingdom has found that 70 per cent of teenage mothers reported that they became pregnant following a rape. A meta-study concluded that teenagers were far more likely to become pregnant if they came from a home which had no father.

All things considered, Guyanese should be worried. The Linden Hospital Complex had reported that 18 per cent of babies delivered there were from mothers between 13 and 19 years old. A United Nations Population Fund Report found that Guyana had the second highest teenage pregnancy rate in Latin America and the Caribbean.

So, what should be done? Well, there are clear indicators of correlation: low levels of education, lack of access to birth control, poverty, and drug use. The scientific community may wish to pronounce on causation, although most scientists are reluctant to do so without rigorous standards. However, there is an exception; it has been conclusively proven that sex-education that teaches abstinence as the only form of birth control is not effective and has no impact on statistical outcomes.

Experts in many countries agree that there is a programme in the Netherlands that produces enviable results. The programme emphasises values, attitudes, communications, negotiations, and sexual biology. Perhaps, Guyana may consider implementing a long-term programme along those lines. The Teen Pregnancy Prevention and Empowerment initiative of 2016 by the Child Care & Protection Agency in collaboration with non-governmental organisations was too short-lived, being of only one year in duration.