All speakers agreed that the issue of early marriage and adolescent health on account of unintended pregnancies required urgent attention in South Asian countries, particularly India, reports Sharat Pradhan.
Women leaders from different countries attending the Women Deliver 2016 Global Conference in Copenhagen on Wednesday expressed deep concern over unabated forced pregnancies, which, they felt, was one of the major factors affecting adolescent health.
More than 5,500 women are actively participating in the fourth Women Deliver Global Conference to discuss various issues affecting lives of girls and women, with special focus on gender discrimination and adolescent health. The four-day meet commenced on Monday.
Among the key speakers on the issue of unwanted pregnancies and unmet needs were Graca Machel, chairperson of the World Health Organisation Partnership for Maternal New Bord and Child Health; Ann Starrs, president and chief executive officer of Guttmacher Institute; Dakshita Wickremathane, commissioener, Lancet Commission for Adolescent Helath and Well-Being; and Ame-Birgette Alberstsen, CEO, Plan International.
While asserting how social norms, taboos, traditions and even religion often came in the way of use of modern contraceptives, Machel said that such challenges will go with time. “Traditions and taboos are bound to be there, but I am sure everything changes with time. So we need to be patient and consistently push our mission without losing hope,” she said.
Machel also emphasised upon the need to understand that conditions were different in different nations. “While the problem of unwanted pregnancies and adolescent health was also prevalent in some of the developed nations, techniques applied to solve them cannot be the same as adopted for developing nations,” she pointed out.
She said that ‘adolescent girls were forced into marriage in several societies, largely on account of old traditions and customs, but I am strongly of the view and experience tells me that education has compelled societies to give up their dogmas. Even in religion-driven societies, where early marriages were being practised, eventually, the social attitudes have changed’.
Wikramarathane suggested that the faster way to overcome this situation could be by engaging religious leaders to assist health experts in spreading awareness about the necessity of avoiding early marriages. She cited the example of Sri Lanka where volunteers from Young Women Christian Association came forward to educate people on the issue and how the Church priests also helped in spreading awareness.
Stressing on the increasing cases of unwanted pregnancies, Am Starrs said, “No effort should be spared to allow adolescents to take the final call on pregnancy.”
Lamenting that certain societies do not allow adolescents to go for modern contraceptives, she was of the view that education alone could bring the difference.
All the speakers agreed that the issue of early marriage and adolescent health on account of unintended pregnancies required urgent attention in South Asian countries, particularly India, where the problem was on the rise despite tough laws against it.
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