by Vasinatta Yama, EM TV – Port Moresby
A panel discussion on ‘adolescent and sexual reproductive health care’ has highlighted the need for proper counselling on sexual reproduction and family planning, for young people.
These needs were openly addressed by representatives from the health department and NGO’s, today.
From data received; the age group of 13 to 19 year olds, account for 13 per cent of teenage pregnancies annually in Papua New Guinea.
The panellists highly recommended for teenage pregnancy education to be made accessible to adolescents. There is also a need to make sure that information on family planning is accessible.
Nearly half of the world’s population is made up of people aged 25 and below.
NGO’s who deal with sexual and reproductive health care want the government to include more young people in economic empowerment activities, to help them make the right choices.
This will also help the government to address the issue of teenage pregnancy and the high maternal mortality rate, and also manage the population effectively.
Confidentiality is the greatest challenge young people face when trying to access information.
To avoid this, NGOs suggest for peer-to peer education which will allow youths to share information with others their same age.
