By John Majau
The Health ministry is alarmed over the high rate of teenage pregnancies and the rising number of people living with HIV/Aids in Meru County.
According to Principal Secretary Ministry of Health Susan Mochache, teenage pregnancies in the county stand at 38 per cent against the national average of 20 per cent while the number of people living with HIV/Aids had reportedly risen progressively to 20,700 from 15,000 three years ago.
Mochache said it was worrying that for every 100 women who deliver in hospitals, 38 were between the ages of 10 and 19, the school going age.
She revealed that in the first five months alone this year, 15,000 girls had become pregnant.
“At this rate, by the end of the year, you will have over 30,000 girls giving birth and it is a matter we need to seriously address because it has reached very alarming levels. As a society, we should ask ourselves what the problem is because these children’s lives are getting destroyed every day,” she said.
Terming the teenage pregnancies a threat to national development, the PS called upon all stakeholders to arise and fight the vice.
“This is a serious threat to the nation and we should wake up to this reality. Meru has women role models who have inspired us including Chief Justice Martha Koome and Public Service and Gender CS Prof Margaret Kobia. What happened? Do you want to spoil the good name of Meru women?” she posed.
“We should not allow this to continue and since you are the health foot-soldiers who interact with residents in their homes, we believe you can help bring this number down by over 50 per cent in the second half of the year,” she said.
Mochache also decried the rising number of HIV/Aids cases among the youth, calling for their sensitization on the same.
“HIV and Aids remains a big threat to the youth and we need to address this by sensitizing and educating our children as at least 5,000 teenagers die from HIV/Aids-related diseases,” she said.
Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi blamed the Judiciary for failing to punish errant men responsible for making young school girls pregnant, adding that the courts had a role to play in addressing the problem.
They both spoke at Meru Teachers College during the annual Triple Threats sensitisation forum for community health volunteers, where the National Aids Control Council CEO Ruth Laiboni was also present.
The event seeks to raise awareness about three main threats facing the youth – early pregnancies, HIV/Aids and gender-based violence.
