| –as Guyana eyes reduced teenage pregnancy rateUNFPA Representative, Ms Patrice La FleurEven as Guyana, like other Caricom members states, aims for a marked reduction in adolescent pregnancy in five years,CHeap NFL Jerseys China, the Ministry of Public Health has been able to complete a draft sexual and reproductive health strategy. The draft document is one that was undertaken in collaboration with one of the Ministry’s long standing partners, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).Designed to guide the way forward, the strategy was understandably one that was discussed when the Ministry convened a recent Maternal and Child Health/Expanded Programme on Immunization (MCH/EPI) half-year review meeting.“We hope that very soon it (strategy) will be presented for approval by cabinet,” said UNFPA Representative, Ms Patrice La Fleur.The completion of the strategy comes at a time when the Ministry’s Adolescent Health Unit is piloting its adolescent/youth friendly health centre initiative in selective communities which would facilitate young people’s access to accurate information and services on sexual and reproductive health.Moreover, La Fleur underscored that the youth-friendly health centre initiative is an important step since “we are fully aware of the challenges we have with adolescent pregnancy in our society and the need to reduce the incidence.”Just last month UNFPA and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) collaborated with the Public Health Ministry to brief stakeholders on the Caricom Integrated Strategic Framework for the reduction of adolescent pregnancy which seeks to address the factors which drive adolescent pregnancy. The goal of the framework, according to La Fleur, is to reduce adolescent pregnancy by 20 per cent in the Caricom member states by 2020.Although it is seen as a problem, Chief Medical Officer (CMO),Discount NFL Jerseys, Dr Shamdeo Persaud, had some time ago intimated that pregnancy among adolescents has been on the decline.According to him, in 2003 the under-15 age group, for instance, accounted for close to four percent of all pregnancies, but was reduced in 2011 to just about one percent. This reduction, according to Dr Persaud,NFL Jerseys From China, represented less than 100 pregnancies. During the same period too there were about 5.2 per cent of girls between the ages of 15 and 16 who were pregnant,Wholesale Jerseys China, but the percentage was reduced by 2011 to 2.6, Dr Persaud said.But achieving the 20 percent reduction goal was however described as “a tall order” by La Fleur who assured that “we intend to work closely with the Ministry of Public Health, UN Agencies, and other Government Ministries in this problematic area.”La Fleur in recent deliberations highlighted that given the widely accepted notion that “the health of a nation is the wealth of a nation” it can be safely deduced that the Ministry of Public Health has one of the most important roles in the society.In order to achieve the crucial goal of delivering quality health care to the population, the UNFPA Representative noted that,Cheap Stitched Jerseys, as a technical partner to the Ministry of Public Health, UNFPA is keen on continuing its support to Guyana’s health sector.This commitment was also amplified at the half-year review meeting.UNFPA’s mandate was crafted at the 1994 ‘International Conference on Population and Development’ which focused on the need for universal access to sexual and reproductive health information and services for all people including: women, men, and young people. The mandate also incorporated the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Five which speaks to improving maternal health.With this in mind, La Fleur said that the aim is to integrate human rights, gender equality,Cheap Jerseys Store, population and development data in the quest to improving health care. As a result, UNFPA has been providing support in several strategic areas.Among the areas of focus have been sexual and reproductive health, maternal health, reproductive health and commodity security, including family planning and adolescent health.“We are aware of the progress which has been made over the years through the support of the UN family in Guyana as well as other development partners, particularly in the areas of development and reproductive health,” La Fleur observed. |
