Urgent work could reduce teenage pregnancies: Profamilia

Santo Domingo.– On the occasion of the World Day for Prevention of Unintended Pregnancy in Adolescents, Profamilia said the situation in which teenagers live in the Dominican Republic is an indicator of the urgent work needed to reverse this reality that affects poor people and the sectors with the lowest education levels.

Through a press release, Profamilia cited data from the Demographic and Health Survey, Endesa 2013, according to which onein five adolescents aged 15-19 have had children or have been pregnant:20% of them had dropped out of school for been pregnant; 36.5% of women aged20-24 were married or cohabiting before reaching the age of 18; 54% of women and73% of men had their first sexual intercourse before reaching 18.

Profamilia, civil society and government institutions participated in the framing of the national plan to prevent teen pregnancy and costing, and advocated for budgets with safeguarded funds.