By Annabel Consuelo Petinglay/PNA
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – Teenage pregnancy in the province of Antique is on a downward trend with 1,339 cases recorded in 2018.
Antique Provincial Population Officer Primo C. Ogatis, Jr. said in an interview Friday that there were 37 cases for the 10-14 years old bracket and 1,302 cases among the 15-19 years old teenagers reported last year.
“We are glad that the teenage pregnancy has declined from 1,427 cases in 2017,”he said.
He said that in 2017 there were 40 cases of 10 to 14 years old girls who got pregnant while there were 1,387 adolescents or those from 15-19 years old bracket.
In 2016, there was even a higher number of 1,619 adolescents who got pregnant. Of the number, 55 of them were from the age group 10 to 14 and 1,564 in the 15 to 19 years old bracket.
Ogatis said that the continuous decline of teenage pregnancy could be attributed to the increased awareness on Adolescent Health and Development Program (ADHD).
“We conduct symposia on Adolescent Responsible Sexuality in secondary schools,” he said, where they discussed the improvement and promotion of the total well-being of young people including the risks of teenage pregnancy.
Last year, the Provincial Population Office, together with the municipal population workers, conducted symposiums in three secondary schools, namely the Pascual M. Osuyos Memorial High School in Tobias Fornier, San Pedro National High School in San Jose de Buenavista, and in Laua-an National High School in Lau-an.
“There were about 820 students who attended the symposia,” he said.
Other activities that were conducted by the Provincial Population Office included ADHD Training on Peer Helping to 68 selected student leaders province-wide.
“The trained students now act as peer educators in the 18 Teen Centers established in the province,” he said.
The peer educators assist the other students address their psycho-social problems and give them advises on avoiding teenage pregnancy.
