Funding gaps in adolescent healthcare and reproductive health programmes in Kenya are hampering efforts to improve key healthcare indicators under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda, according to speakers at the Nairobi Summit International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD25) side-event.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are nearly 1.2 billion adolescents (those between 10 and 19 years of age old) worldwide. In some countries, adolescents make up as much as a quarter of the population and the number of adolescents is expected to rise through 2050, particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).
During the opening of the event, Professor Marleen Temmerman, Director of the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health East Africa, AKU’s Medical College said Kenya still has a long way to go to achieve the SDG targets despite progress in enhancing access to sexual and reproductive health services, reducing maternal and child mortality and putting an end to gender-based violence.
“Early pregnancy is a barrier to the improvement in the education, economic and social status of young women across the world, including Kenya,” said Professor Marleen. “This leads to many girls dropping out of school, which in the long-run, reduces their employment opportunities and entrenches poverty in the family.”
Dr Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli, Scientist, Department of Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization noted that studies have shown that investment in adolescent sexual and reproductive health interventions has a profound impact on the health status and economy of a country.
“We must advocate to keep adolescent sexual and reproductive health on the agenda. In addition, there is a need to make use of enabling policies in designing effective strategies, build on the learnings of the last 25 years and develop tailor-made health interventions aligned with the needs of adolescents and young people,” he said.
Speakers at the event recommended the promotion of health interventions for adolescents and youth such as the creation of adolescent-friendly spaces in primary health centers, raising awareness of a range of contraceptive methods, improving outreach and referrals and supporting school retention and re-entry for pregnant adolescents and adolescent mothers.
“As academic institutions we need to support all the key stakeholders including the government to ensure that we are at the forefront in the full implementation of the ICPD agenda, which is in line with the SDGs agenda,” added Prof Marleen.
Around 70 participants from around the world participated in the side event which focused on topics such as ending preventable maternal death, unmet family planning need, gender-based violence and cervical cancer, and adolescent health.
The event was jointly hosted by Aga Khan University’s Medical College, the United Nations Population Fund, the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School, the Consortium of Universities for Global Health, the International Centre for Reproductive Health , the Academic Network for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Policy and the World Health Organization (WHO).
