Adolescent parenthood escalates generational poverty – Nigerian Professor

By Eunice Hilda Ampomah, GNA

Accra, Nov. 12, GNA – Adolescent parenthood is a key contributor to generational poverty, as the possibility of adolescents transferring a cause of their pregnancy which could be poverty onto their babies.

Professor Akanni Akinyemi, a Professor of Demography and Social Statistics at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria has said.

He said one key factor that contributes to the high rise in teenage pregnancy is poverty it has a high tendency of escalating poverty among families and their generations.

He said this at a symposium organised by the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana (UG) in partnership with the Takemi Program in International Health and theHarvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

It was held under the topic: “The SDG Era: Health, Equity and Education” at the University of Ghana, Accra.

Prof. Akinyemi said according to a UNICEF report, 50 per cent of global deaths were as a result of adolescent pregnancies and 20 per cent of women aged between 20 to 24 became mothers before turning age 20 in West and Central Africa.

The report said one in every five adolescent girls in Ghana and Nigeria was pregnant and 50 per cent were identified to be from the poorest homes.

Also in Ghana, about 10 per cent of young people before turning age 19 might have one or two children.

He said pregnant adolescent girls tend to face a lot of consequences such inadequate access to healthcare, cultural discriminations, loss of self-esteem and challenges with health.

Pregnancy also increases the vulnerability of adolescents and deprives them of many opportunities including access to education.

This, he said, calls for the implementation of strong policies to curb the menace of adolescent pregnancies across the sub-region.

Professor Benjamin Ozumba, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, speaking on the topic, “Evidence-based policies to Address Maternal Mortality,” said it is unfortunate the rate at which maternal mortality was rising in West Africa.

“Nigeria for instance rates as one of the highest countries in terms of maternal mortality with almost 58,000 maternal deaths between 1990 and 2015, accounting 19 per cent globally,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said, education on contraceptives was a taboo in many parts of Africa, with access to contraceptives being practically non-existent.

He called on African states to implement evidence-driven health policies to give direction on the use of contraceptives to control the rampant increment in adolescent pregnancy and maternity deaths.

“It is time to use strong maternal health policies on scientific based evidence if we want to fight this canker,” he said.

Dr Debora Atobrah, a Senior Research Fellow, Institute of African Studies, UG, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said having identified the problems associated with injustice and equity, education, and health among girls and women; the Institute decided to hold a symposium to identify the root causes and help to find solutions to them.

“There are still many barriers that inhibit girls from going to school such as lack of access to sanitary items. In principle, we say all girls have access to education, but in practicality, it is not so,” she said.

She called for a collective effort from governmental and nongovernmental organisations, parents, teachers and religious leaders to promote interest for education among girls and help to reduce adolescent pregnancies.

GNA

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