Distance fuels early pregnancies in Mangochi
Centre for Youth Empowerment and Civic Education (Cyece), a sexual and reproductive health rights non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Mangochi, has decried the distance youths cover to access sexual and reproductive services.
The NGO said this is a contributing factor to early pregnancies in the district.
The observation was made on Friday during a district stakeholders meeting which Cyece organised to give updates for the project.
Speaking in an interview after the meeting, Cyece district coordinator Isaac Salimu noted that there are limited sexual reproductive health service delivery strategies in most parts of the district due to what he described as the area’s topography.
He said: “Some areas in the district are hard-to-reach. Hence, youths in these areas do not have access to sexual reproductive health services.
This, therefore, brings untold problems as youths in these areas are susceptible to sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and early pregnancies,” he explained.
Salimu said it is against this background that his organisation, with funding from IM Swedish Development Partner, is implementing a three-year Enhancing The Uptake Of SRHR Services Among The Youth In Malawi.
The project is aimed at combating problems faced by youths.
He said the project in Mangochi is being implemented in traditional authorities Nankumba and Namabvi and it spans from 2015 to 2017.
In his remarks, Mangochi district civil society organisations (CSOs) chairperson Turner Banda asked NGOs that have mobile outreach sexual reproductive health service delivery to target hard-to-reach areas or liaise with the district health office to support outreach initiatives. n
