Projections on Adolescent Pregnancy Rates in Mexico Fabiola Martinez - La Jornada
go to original July 20, 2013

The UN Population Fund is helping the Mexican Government get contraceptives in the hands of those who need it most, so they can better and more responsibly plan their families. (unitednations)

For the next two decades, official projections indicate that the level of adolescent pregnancies in Mexico will remain practically in the same range, which, in the opinion of specialists on the subject, is a warning about the failures and oversights on the topic of education and access to sexual and reproductive health services. Today, the level of adolescent pregnancies is 66 children for every thousand adolescents and in the coming years the indicator will be 64.

“In regards to the adolescent fertility rate (the group of women between 15 and 19 years old), the information on population projections did not forecast any significant changes, witnessing a slight decline of 66 live births per every thousand adolescents (in the year 2013) to 64 live births in 2030”, explained Jesús Zimbrón director-general of the National Council on Population (Conapo).

The civil servant detailed Mexico’s pending issues facing the difficulties of adolescent pregnancy: establishing laws regarding the right to sexual and reproductive health, without distinction or discrimination; ensuring the supply of materials on the subject; considering the dissemination and the use of contraceptive methods as a strategic objective; guaranteeing that family planning programs, contraceptive programs, and reproductive health programs for adolescents are obligatory, efficient, and non-discretionary; giving this focus in education, and establishing indicators to measure the development of this phenomenon.

Read the rest at Mexico Voices

Translated by Chris Brown

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!