Pakwach district has embarked on a health awareness campaign aimed at the reduction and prevention of teenage pregnancies among its communities.
Pakwach district registered 7,760 cases of teenage pregnancies in one year, between May 2021 and May this year.
This will be done through an initiative that conducts health camps and outreaches in schools and communities on sexual health and healthy lifestyles among youths and adults.
The Health Awareness Campaign is being conducted in partnership with The Junction Pakwach, a community-based organization in the area, and is expected to last five years.
It follows escalating cases of teenage pregnancies in the district. The initiative will sensitize and educate young girls about the dangers and implications of getting into sexual intercourse at a tender age.
It also offers counseling and testing and career guidance as well as encourages parents and guardians to take on the roles of protecting the young ones against sexual violence.
Moses Otim, the Junction Pakwach Publicity Secretary, says that the first step of the campaign is being conducted within the different schools and will also provide free reusable sanitary pads to school girls.
Otim explains that in schools, they are using senior male and female teachers and creating sexual peer groups to woo others into healthy lifestyles and abstaining from early and unplanned sex.
Hannington Ovona, the Pakwach Town Council LCIII chairperson, says that the initiative is timely since they are incapacitated to roll out such a program yet they are battling many cases of teenage pregnancies.
Paul Eseru, the Pakwach Resident District Commissioner notes that the initiative seeks to reduce and prevent teenage pregnancies in the area, which he says is burdening development.
Joel Bedijo, the Headteacher of Pajobi Primary School with over 800 girls where the drive has taken place is optimistic that the girls will stay in school and complete their study cycles without engaging in sexual affairs.