"prevalence of teenage pregnancy"

“Premarital sex is widespread and must do something about it to prevent unwanted pregnancy particularly among teenagers. We must not let the next generation of Filipino to be a million “Lisa”, a generation of young mothers. Unless we recognize that the problem exists. We will not be able to come up with a concrete solution and prevent such dilemma from occurrence.”

This was the reaction by Benjamin De Leon, President of the Family Planning and Development at the 11th Usapang Popdev Forum at Annabels restaurant in Quezon City.

“We need to help these children for they are the next generation of parents, workers and leaders. In order for them to fulfill these roles to the best of their abilities in this fast-changing world, we must improved their access to education, information about sexuality and reproduction. Studies have proven that adolescent childbearing is declining in countries where it had been common, as access to education increases and as the social, health and economic advantages of delaying births become more widely recognized,.” stressed De Leon.

De Leon said sexually active adolescents face a variety of risks, including exposure to unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion and sexually transmitted diseases. This threatens their sexual and reproductive health and may impair not only their future but their future in general.

De Leon explained that “these young adolescents are more likely to experience premature labor, spontaneous abortion and still births than are older women, and they are up to four times as likely as women older than 20 to die from pregnancy related causes. We must take some action now and prepare these young people to be better citizens.”

“They need our guidance and support, and we must commit ourselves to their development. We must think of program and policies, commit financial resources and provide programs for our youth. How we respond to the needs of these young people will not determine their future, but will also be of utmost significance to the quality of lives of the children they would bring into this world and the future of communities they will build and maintain.” Ended DeLeon.