Kimberly Kusauka
Organisations which deal with Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) and mental health are prioritizing issues of access to SRH and mental health services in 2022 following a sharp increase in 2021.
In 2021 there were lots of cases of teenage pregnancies as a result of lack of information on SRH and suicides caused by mental illness were recorded.
This troubled organisations responsible for SRH and mental health as they seek to reduce such cases in 2022.
Researchers discovered that Zimbabwe’s government recorded close to 5 000 pregnant teenage girls in January and February 2021 where about 1 800 got into early marriages.
Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) Masvingo Provincial Marketing Officer Herbert Chikosi said that they will be working to reduce teenage pregnancies through sex education as well as drug and substance abuse education.
“2022 is a year of strengthening key interventions that ensure the reduction of teenage pregnancies through comprehensive sexuality education and parent to child communication models.
“Secondly, we are prioritizing issues around drug and substance abuse which is rampant amongst youths in the province. On contraception and family planning side, we are strengthening quality service provision.
“We will continue to do advocacy around menstrual health management issues, including policy and making sanitary wear and information available to young girls and women,” said Chikosi.
He said they will continue to strengthen their relationship with the media to make sure that SRH reaches to a wider population.
“We are going to continue working and strengthening our relationship with the media to ensure comprehensive information about SRH reaches out to youths and the general population. Our social media engagement is also going to be amplified,” said Chikosi.
Girls and Women Empowerment Network (GWEN) Trust Director, Kumbirai Kahiya said they will be raising awareness through family and community dialogues with adolescents and youths.
“We are raising awareness and education through family centred, community dialogues targeted at adolescents, constitution education books, distributing dignity packs with washable sanitary wear, pants and soap as well as social media campaigns.
“We are doing community outreach awareness campaigns aimed at bringing to an end child marriages where we will have adolescents and youths participating in recreational activities/ games aimed at educating them on the risks of child marriages,” said Kahiya.
Second Chance Foundation, Founder and Director Careen Chikwanha said they will be carrying out awareness campaigns mainly focusing on youths especially on issues of drug and substance abuse which is one of the major drivers behind suicides.
“We have different projects lined up. We are going to be focusing more on youths and artists on the issue of drug abuse majoring in awareness campaigns,” said Chikwanha.
Researchers also found that 1.4 percent of all deaths worldwide are related to psychiatric diseases with depression, substance abuse and disorders being common factors behind suicide.
