Twelve Percent Of Adolescents Use Modern Contraceptives, Latest Report Reveals.
According to a report by the International Centre for Reproductive Health Kenya, 12% of adolescents aged 15 to 19 in Nairobi use modern contraception.
According to a report released on Friday, six out of ten sexually active young women aged 20 to 24 use modern contraception methods.
By the age of 18, 10 out of every 100 Nairobi adolescents and young women were using contraception.
The survey was conducted by Performance Monitoring for Action between November and December of last year and included 801 respondents from 949 households.
According to the report, 47 out of every 100 adolescents prefer to get their contraception from pharmacies, while 32% get them from government health facilities.
According to the report, male condoms are the most commonly used, while three out of every ten adolescents did not use any method during their most recent sexual encounter.
Injectables were used by 7%, implants by 4%, and pills by 4%, while withdrawal and emergency pills were used by 4% and 2%, respectively, as a method of family planning.
By the age of 18, three out of every ten Nairobi adolescents have had their first sexual encounter.
According to the report, 5% of adolescents and young women marry by the age of 18, while only 10% of adolescents and young women use contraception by the same age.
According to the study findings, 44.3 percent had their first sexual activity out of curiosity, 37.4% were carried away, and 15.1% were forced against their will.
10.6 percent said they were doing what was expected of them, while 8.6 percent said they were being influenced.
Only 62% of the adolescents used a method to prevent pregnancy during their first sex and they were curious according to Michael Waithaka, a senior data analyst who presented the findings on behalf of PMA.
According to the study, the vast majority (approximately 95%) would have preferred to wait longer before engaging in sexual activity.
“The median age at which our women start having sex is about 18 years, then about three years later that is when they start using contraceptives then a year or two later they get married, give birth so by the time they are staring using contraceptives on average they have a kid,” he said.
According to the survey, 5% of adolescents and young women marry before the age of 18.
The majority of adolescents, however, say they would prefer to receive family planning information via text on their mobile phones, while 59% prefer to receive it via social media such as Facebook and WhatsApp.
“Pharmacy was their go-to place to get their method for both the adolescent and the young women. Out of three adolescents who had sex during their last sex, one used nothing so that is something that we can think about,” he said.
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“To address this inequality in use we need to come up with programmes because we have seen that the adolescents have been left behind followed by young women.”
This comes as the country faces the triple threat of new HIV infections, gender-based violence, and adolescent pregnancy.
Experts now warn that if the triple threat is not addressed, it will severely limit young people’s ability to reach their full potential.
The three issues are frequently intertwined.
“GBV of a sexual nature can lead to HIV infection and pregnancy, while HIV infection can result in partner conflict and GBV. A sexual encounter can result in all the three threats,” a past statement by health partners read.
Twelve Percent Of Adolescents Use Modern Contraceptives, Latest Report Reveals.