Malawi: Adolescent pregnancies increase in the coronavirus pandemic

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 08:25 am

Eliza Majuri is 17 years old and one of the thousands of young adults in Malawi who has fallen pregnant all through the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Oxfam, the town of Phalombe on my own has registered 2,784 instances of teen pregnancies and 800 child marriages because March when colleges closed.

Eliza stated she was once lured into a relationship with a married man in March.

“At the time he proposed, he dedicated to marrying me if I got pregnant and that we would be dwelling together,” she said.

But he left her when she advised him she was once expecting.

Many women in her situation are pushed into marriage. But Eliza is fending for herself and does not have sufficient food or different essentials.

With fitness offerings focusing on COVID-19 patients, interest has been diverted from sexual and reproductive services.

Oxfam has additionally recognized an enlarge in cases in Machinga-east Malawi, where there are 418 teen pregnancies and 285 infant marriages.

In Mangochi district 7,274 teen pregnancies have been recorded.

Malawi Ministry of Health Principal Secretary Dr Charles Mwansambo said in 2020 there has been an make bigger in pregnancies between the ages of ten and 19 in contrast to the preceding year.

“That’s 29 out of each and every 100 pregnancies in younger ones between the a while of ten and 19 and if you look at the equal duration this year in 2020, that has extended to 35% which capability that out of every one hundred pregnancies 35 are between the ages of 10 and 19,” he said.

Matilda Matiya, who leads a mothers team team of female that is mediating a system to have Eliza return to her dad and mom for assistance, said services had been accessible in the area but have been no longer accessed with the aid of many girls.

“Family planning techniques are accessible in our location but because they are determined at a distance from here, most girls do now not get right of entry to them,” Matiya said.

(AFP)