106 School Girls Fell Pregnant In The Space Of Three Months In Chadiza
About 106 school girls have fallen pregnant in the space of three months in Chadiza District of Eastern Province.
The girls with an age range of 10 to 18, are reported to have fallen pregnant between June and September this year.
The district has also recorded 187 cases of sexually transmitted related diseases among the children between the ages ranging from 0-14 years.According to the health authorities, the related cases may have been transmitted without sexual contact.
This was disclosed during the District Adolescent Technical Working Group on Adolescents Sexual and Reproductive Health meeting.Chadiza District Commissioner George Phiri was angered by the damning statistics of child pregnancies and non-sexual transmitted diseases among children.
“Unfortunately, these girls who are falling pregnant, 99.9 percent are not impregnated by their peer, it is you the civil servants and other members of the community who are impregnating our pupils,” he said.
Mr Phiri directed the Ministry of General Education to make a follow up on all the girls that have fallen pregnant and trace the males that are responsible for the pregnancies so that they face the law.
“We have by-laws in the district to ensure that a girl who falls pregnant before the age of 21 is punished together with the boy that has impregnated her. And also issues of defilement are straight forward police issues, so we need to arrest the perpetrators,” he said
And Chadiza District Health Director Webby Chisala bemoaned the increase in cases of teenage pregnancies and sexual transmitted diseases among the adolescents.
Dr Chisala disclosed that the district had in the second quarter of 2020 recorded 187 cases of sexual transmitted diseases among the age group ranging from 0-14 and 129 cases in the age group ranging from 15-24 Years respectively.
He also revealed that the cases of unsafe abortions have also risen with Chadiza Day secondary school topping the list with 12 cases followed by Kathantha Basic School with 10 cases of unsafe abortions.
Dr Chisala observed that there was under-utilization of condoms by the young people, leading to the rise in the pregnancies and unsafe abortions.
