By DANIEL ODEKE

The National Syndemic Disease Control Council (NSDCC) recently released a report which showed that adolescents accounted for 17 per cent of antenatal clinic clients in 2023.

To paint the picture clearly, a total of 254,753 pregnancies were reported among adolescents between the ages of 10 to 19 years in 2023. Even more striking, 12,966 of the mentioned pregnancies were among adolescents aged between 10 and 14 years and the remaining 241,757 pregnancies were among those aged 15 to 19 years.

As much as the numbers indicate a drop from those reported in 2022 by 5,981 cases, the truth remains that these numbers continue to paint a picture of ineffective interventions employed over the years in a bid to mitigate adolescent pregnancies, strongly filing a case for more to be done.

The government through the Ministry of Health and Education, county governments, and nongovernmental organizations working in this area as well as the community at large, need to understand that adolescent pregnancies present a triple threat. It presents an avenue for Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, which connects to the risks of HIV infection.

In the report released by the NSDCC, 20,143 Sexual and Gender Violence (SGBV)cases were reported among adolescents aged between 10 to 17 years in 2023, accounting for 37 per cent of all SGBV cases reported in the same year.

Even more shocking is that 3,403 of the 20,143 were children aged less than 9 years old. The fact that just 40 per cent of the cases reported were presented to health facilities within 72 hours, meaning very little to nothing could be done to protect the very bright future of the remaining 60 per cent of the SGBV victims.

This registers as a concern worth attention and stringent measures. The victims here are individuals who are still in school, and their capacity to make sound decisions as regards their sexual and reproductive health including their body and autonomy is still under development, as such they need to be protected by all means.

A call for age-appropriate Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) is justified by all means as well as policies that will ensure that adolescents are safe. We need to do more if at all we seek to end adolescent pregnancies and put an end to chain effects arising from the same, including poverty, unemployment, lower educational achievement and weakening economic conditions.

Daniel Odeke is an SRHR Advocate at NAYA Kenya. Email: danielodeke@outlook.com Twitter: @D_Oramisi