Improvement of sexual and reproductive health requires focusing on adolescents

In many developing countries a large proportion of young women become pregnant during adolescence. Pregnancy and childbirth at this age carry major risks and according to WHO constitute the main cause of death in 15-19 year old girls worldwide, with about 60 000 young women dying each year.2 Further...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Lancet (British edition) 2003-09, Vol.362 (9386), p.830-831
Main Author: Bayley, Olivia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abortion
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior - psychology
Adolescents
Adult
Age
Biological and medical sciences
Child development
Condoms
Delivery of Health Care - organization & administration
Delivery of Health Care - standards
Delivery of Health Care - trends
Developing countries
Developing Countries - statistics & numerical data
Education
Essays
Female
Forecasting
Health care
Humans
LDCs
Male
Medical sciences
Pregnancy
Prevention and actions
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Reproductive health
Reproductive Medicine - standards
Sex Education
Sexual behavior
Sexual Behavior - psychology
Sexual health
Sexually transmitted diseases
Socioeconomic factors
Specific populations (family, woman, child, elderly...)
STD
Teenagers
Womens health
World Health Organization
Young adults
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Summary:In many developing countries a large proportion of young women become pregnant during adolescence. Pregnancy and childbirth at this age carry major risks and according to WHO constitute the main cause of death in 15-19 year old girls worldwide, with about 60 000 young women dying each year.2 Furthermore, early pregnancy inhibits young women's chances of obtaining an education and may diminish their social status. Consequently, most births to both married and unmarried adolescents are unwanted or mistimed.3 Indeed, a large proportion end in unsafe abortion, since even where abortion is legal, poor access and high cost affect adolescents disproportionately. In addition, sexually transmitted infections pose a serious threat to adolescents' health, as is powerfully illustrated in the case of HIV: more than 7000 young people become infected with HIV every day, accounting for at least half of all new infections.4 This fact represents serious and wide-ranging issues regarding adolescents and their behaviours.
ISSN:0140-6736
1474-547X
DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(03)14281-X