8 May 2025 / 15:00 CEST
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Date & Time
May 8, 2025 9:00 EDT/ 15:00 CEST / 18:30 IST
Description
Adolescent pregnancy remains a critical global issue, especially in low- and middle-income countries, where 21 million girls aged 15–19 become pregnant each year—half unintentionally. Although global adolescent birth rates have declined, progress is uneven, with the highest rates in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Social, economic, and cultural factors heavily influence adolescent pregnancy. Girls from poorer or less educated backgrounds are most affected. Child marriage, restrictive gender norms, and limited access to education and employment perpetuate cycles of early marriage and childbearing. Access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education and services remains limited. Many adolescents lack essential information on puberty, contraception, and sexual health. Barriers such as stigma, legal restrictions, and provider biases hinder access to contraception, with persistent inequities across regions and groups. The impacts of adolescent pregnancy go beyond health, affecting education, economic prospects, and social well-being. Addressing it requires coordinated, multisectoral efforts.
Since the 2011 WHO guideline, new evidence has led to a more targeted approach, focusing on specific adolescent groups:
- Preventing child marriage and responding to the needs and rights of married girls.
- Improving adolescent access to, uptake of, and continued use of contraception. Webinar objectives:
- Launch the updated WHO guideline on preventing early pregnancy and poor reproductive outcomes among adolescents in low- and middle-income countries.
- Host panel discussions with stakeholders to explore dissemination and implementation strategies and opportunities.
Reports and Guidelines
Sexual & reproductive health and rights central to World Health Day
World Health Day marked the beginning of a year-long campaign to prioritize the health of mothers and babies. Access to sexual and reproductive health services is critical to preventing maternal deaths, as Dr Tedros affirmed in his foreword to the Maternal Mortality Estimates report, “When the rights of girls and women are protected and they have access to the services and information they need to control their own lives and bodies, unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions and maternal deaths fall, while opportunities to participate in education and the workforce increase.”
SOURCE: Selected items. Human Reproduction Programme. hrpcommunication@campaign.who.int 24 April 2025.