A new report on the country’s population status has indicated that one out of every four girls under the age of 15 years is either having a baby or is pregnant.

The report released by the United Nations Population Fund together with the Population Secretariat presents an unfortunate situation of increasing cases of adolescent pregnancies that exposes young girls to serious health complications.

The Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund Esperance Fundira says that out the total 7.3 million adolescent mothers a year, 2 million girls are under the age of 15.

Fundira explain that these teenage pregnancies only affect the health of the young girls but also their education, their entire future lives but also the country’s economy.

The Senior National Program Officer Reproductive Health at United Nations Population Fund Dr. Ismail Ndifuna stressed the need to include sex education in the school syllabus to sensitize the teenage on matters of reproductive health.

Ndifuna added that stakeholders should scale up programs to engage the men and boys responsible for the early pregnancies as to avert the adverse consequences of unwanted pregnancies to the young girls and the country at large.