Rate of adolescent pregnancy still too high – Health Minister

Dr. Fenton Ferguson, Minister of Health, said the rate of adolescent pregnancy in Jamaica is still too high with 18 per cent of live births occurring to teenage mothers. He is also lamenting that more than 30 per cent of first sexual encounters by adolescents occurred without contraceptive. In addition, based on HIV surveillance data, girls aged 10 to 19 years are three times as likely as boys in the same cohort to be infected.  

Speaking on Wednesday at an inter-ministerial meeting on adolescent sexual reproductive health, Dr. Ferguson said 12 per cent of girls below the age of 15 have initiated sexual activity. The Minister said adolescents are important users of sexual reproductive health services and a key target for improving population health and education. Despite this, Dr. Ferguson noted that there are concerns about the great barriers to addressing the sexual and reproductive health needs of young people in Jamaica.

He pointed out that there are legal, policy and cultural issues which have implications for young people’s access to reproductive health services.