…hinterland region recorded highest incidence

IN Guyana, teenage pregnancy is most prevalent among indigenous peoples and in the hinterland regions.

The problem is especially prevalent in Barima-Waini (Region One), Cuyuni-Mazaruni (Region Seven), Potaro-Siparuni (Region Eight), and Upper Takutu- Upper Essequibo (Region Nine); and First Lady Sandra Granger has appealed for more work to be done to tackle the issue.

Mrs Granger made the remarks as she delivered the feature address at the launch of the “Situation Analysis of Adolescent Pregnancy in Guyana,” a qualitative and quantitative study that looked at the factors that contribute to adolescent pregnancy and proposed viable solutions that can be used to reduce its prevalence.

The study, which began in 2010, was a collaboration between the Ministry of Public Health, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and was conducted by Dr. Morris Edwards, Monica Millier and Dr. Christine Glover.

The launch was attended by UNFPA Representative Adler Bynoe and UNICEF Representative, Sylvie Fouet. The First Lady has made addressing the issue of teenage pregnancy one of her primary tasks over the past few years. “This is a subject [in]which I have a continuing interest… given the huge impact on the social and economic growth and development of teens,” Granger said.

“It is heartening that the MoPH has launched adolescent-friendly services at its health centres and provides contraceptives to adolescents.”

Granger also made a call for the deficiencies as it pertains to contraceptives being made available to adolescents. A finding contained in the report is that a lack of access to, and knowledge about, contraceptives is a major contributing factor to teenage pregnancy. Though Guyana’s legislation stipulates the legal age of consent at 16 years, there is a “practice of limiting access to contraceptives to persons below the age of 18 years.”
“Most of the adolescents knew where to get condoms, many didn’t know where to get contraception,” explained Edwards during the presentation of a summary of the report. The study utilised a combination of a desk review and focus groups, and found that in Guyana, approximately five per cent of young women have had sex by the age of 15 years.
The analysis showed that Barima-Waini prevailed with the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in 2015, with over three times the national average; however, in 2016, Barima-Waini was displaced by the Upper Takutu- Upper Essequibo region, which went from ranking fourth to ranking first.

For this reason, priority will be given to these two regions when the Ministry of Public Health rolls out an Inter-ministerial National Plan to address the issue. “We would like to work in Region One and Region Nine. Region Nine came up so aggressively, they were doing better in 2015 and in 2016 they made a jump, so we want to focus on those two; we’re not neglecting Seven and Eight, but those would be the two primary regions we will be focusing on,” said Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence.

“We’re all aware of the challenges such an undertaking entails… I’m happy that the team was able to collect sufficient pertinent data from which a plan of action can now be set up. It is important to have empirical evidence– too many areas lack the data from which meaningful discussion can be made.”