Africa-Press – Seychelles. The increase in the number of births under age as well as unplanned births should concern all people and society as a whole and not just a concern for the Ministry of Health, Minister Peggy Vidot said in the Assembly this week.
Minister Vidot said that the statistics for underage conception are concerning and bothering the Ministry of Health and society a lot because it’s not just a health problem but it’s also about education, it’s a family problem, a social problem and a society and community problem.
Minister Vidot gave these details when he was answering the question of MNA Andy Labonte who wanted to know if the ministry has a plan, strategy and vision to put in place a policy and a program that can lead to a reduction in the incidence of aging and also a Another question by MNA Egbert Aglae who wanted to know what the ministry’s plan is to revise its policy on access to reproductive health for all young people in order to reduce the risk of aging and reproductive health diseases.
Minister Vidot said that from 2014 until today, conception among children aged 10 to 14 has varied from 10 to 6 per year and the majority request an abortion according to the abortion law.
But in recent years, the incidence in the 10- to 14-year-old age group has decreased. In 2021, for example, there were 10 cases of conception in this group where 5 gave birth and 5 requested an abortion. In the 15- to 19-year-old age group, there were 250 to 292 cases during the last 5 years and in 2021 there were 269 cases in this age group, of which 220 gave birth and 49 requested an abortion.
“For the time being, the Ministry of Health does not have a specific document on the subject of age-related consent and it is not in the ministry’s current plan to make a policy on this subject and this is because the work on this subject is done in a transversal way through other policies, other strategies, other plans and programs that the ministry has, especially in our new primary health care package that the government approved this year; health program for school children, for teenagers, sexual and reproductive health program, program for young people who frequent the youth health center and all of them address this concern under age. It is clear then that we work on this subject and it needs to continue to be strengthened because there is always a child under age who gets pregnant and has a child that he did not want, this is a problem for our society. We are ready then to work with all the people and all the organizations that have an interest in seeing the oppression of women in our society,” Minister Vidot said.
He took the opportunity to invite the committee of the National Assembly that has the mandate to get reproductive and sexual health to work together with the Ministry of Health to make this happen.
In the meantime, Minister Vidot has insisted that sexual relations with an underage child is a serious crime and that there is no policy review on contraceptives that will address this.
“The Minister of Health believes that the authorities responsible for maintaining order and law should be firmer on this matter to address all cases of child abuse. We believe that this should be a task done by all the different groups concerned in society, the parents who have a key role to protect their children and prevent them from falling into the footsteps of abusers among others,” Minister Vidot said.
Regarding access to contraceptives, Minister Vidot said that the age of 16 to 18 years remains a controversial period because in this age group the sexuality of children is tolerated under the law, but access to contraceptives still requires parental consent and where not , a medical officer can use his judgment in line with the best interest of the child and can also put a specific case before a court to get a decision if he thinks it is necessary.
“The position of the Ministry of Health so far is that the order for contraceptives is a medical procedure and that the Ministry of Health itself cannot, except in the cases mentioned before, make a child who does not have legal power decide to go through a procedure that may have consequences adversary,” Minister Vidot explained.
But on the other hand, it has been pointed out that if this situation can be improved or not, it is not just a decision of the Ministry of Health, but one that the whole society needs to analyze and seriously consider its consequences and also its benefits in the face of the damage it can cause.
Minister Vidot pointed out that the Ministry of Health has not yet taken any final position on this matter.
In the meantime, Minister Vidot has also warned the MNAs who put contraceptives in the home of young girls not necessarily to reduce pregnancy because statistics have shown that many mature women who have contraceptives at their disposal do not always get pregnant even if they have access to this service and they also face a lot of feelings that they didn’t want.
Faced with this situation, Minister Vidot said that the Ministry of Health believes that it is time to discuss this matter deeply and honestly as a society, but the decision on what to do next concerns the whole society and not just the Ministry of Health.
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