Rentse Khiba
21 September 2015
The City of Cape Town’s Health
Department is pleased to note a further decline in the rate of babies being
born to teenagers.
In a statement issued, the
city says, according to statistics, there were 3 136 babies born to
mothers aged 18 or younger in Cape Town in 2013, which accounted for 4.4% of
all births recorded for that year.
Mayoral Committee Member for
Health, Siyabulela Mamkeli said, contraception is an essential human right and,
by law, health facilities are allowed to provide contraception to anyone
12-years or older, without parental consent.
The City of Cape Town’s
department of Health devised additional interventions to broaden its reach in
the 12 to 18 age group.
This includes partnering with
schools and other city departments for education and awareness programmes which
include establishing a Prevention of Teen Pregnancy Forum to monitor trends and
highlight concerns or challenges.
Mamkeli explained that the
reality is many young children are experimenting.
“I would much rather use the
proper protection than fall pregnant.” Mamkeli said
Having an unplanned baby can have far reaching
consequences for a young mother, with her potential for self growth and
development being severely limited, Mamkeli added.
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