Kibisi Declaration Signed As Stakeholders Vow To Amplify Fight Against Teen Pregnancy

By Isabella Maua

Despite intense advocacy against teenage pregnancies in Bungoma County, stakeholders from the Ministry of Health and Education decry loopholes that could imperil efforts.

Speaking during the signing ceremony at Kibisi on Thursday, January 22, Vera Kwamboka, project manager at Core Health and Wealth International, accentuated that there’s more to a signature.

“I am glad that as we all put down our signatures, we have come to the realization that teenage pregnancy is a systemic and intergenerational challenge if not curbed early enough,” she noted.

She also disclosed that as curtains draw for the project, they are gratified to have changed the lives of about 300 teenage mothers by equipping them with knowledge and skills.

“Not only have the young mothers gotten a chance to pursue formal education, but others have also learned modern farming skills and handwork skills like weaving,” Kwamboka added.

Dr. Susan Murumba, on the other hand, challenged the stakeholders to start talking about HIV and reproductive health to the girls and boys at an early age since delaying information has proven to be precarious.

“With 15- to 24-year-olds having accounted for 41% of new HIV infections in 2022, there has been no positive change in the recent past; many teenage mothers who visit our hospitals are diagnosed with HIV but refuse to start taking ARVs,” lamented Dr. Murumba.

She further observes that a higher percentage of teenage mothers have other medical issues like fistula, urinary tract infections, PID, and anemia, which in most cases remain untreated till very late.

The daunting thing is that the teenage mothers diagnosed with HIV also have to cope with mistimed birth and initiation to lifelong treatment, which most of them are scared of, hence risking their babies’ lives even more.

Dr. Jane Kariuki, a counseling psychologist, on her part accentuated the need for mental wellness among teenagers, let alone teenage mothers.

“Mental wellness is central to a teenage mother since healing the mother is actually supporting the child in the long run,” she asserted.

She highlighted that teenage mothers mostly undergo stigma, but the worst of it all is the self-stigma that comes with isolation and depression, leading to premature deaths and, at times, strangulation of the newborn.

“Supporting teen mums should be intentional for sustainability; however, value-based parenting is very vital to achieve this. Teach them love, honesty, and patience, among other virtues,” reiterated the doctor.

Parents, both literate and illiterate, still need a lot of sensitization and knowledge to pass on to their sons and daughters since inadequate or a lack of it poses a higher risk of more adolescent pregnancies.

No one in society should feel safe until parents, teachers, youths, and the administration are sure that everyone in society has been fully equipped to tackle this imminence!