Leaders in Kabale district have expressed concern over the growing numbers of teenage pregnancies and the high school drop rate for young girls; mostly to join commercial sex.
Patrick Besigye Keihwa the Kabale district LC5 chairman says that early marriage is on the increase in the district which has led to many single mothers, owing to the inevitable instabilities and family breakdowns.
Keihwa raised the concern on Tuesday while speaking at the end of a two day orientation workshop organized by Partners in Population And Development Africa for technical planning committee members and sector heads for Kabale district on prioritizing family planning.
Immaculate Mandera, the Kabale district acting director of health services (DHO) says that of the 2843 deliveries in the health centers from July to September 2016, teenage mothers aged between 10 to 19 years were 435, accounting for 15.3 percent of the deliveries.
Patrick Mugirwa the program manager of Partners in Population and Development Africa said that if family planning is embraced by 2020 the country might be able to save 126.7 million US dollars.
James Mugisha the Kabale district Principal assistant secretary said that it’s the uneducated and poor that reproduces a lot which in turn has exacerbated the dependency ratio.