Teenage Pregnancy Down by 28% in Iloilo City

Iloilo City — The City Population Office here has noted a 28 percent decrease in teenage pregnancy for the first semester of 2016 by registering 1,063 as compared to same period of six months in 2015 with 1,481 pregnancies.

City Population Officer Anne Ramos said the report only showed that young people are mostly vulnerable since they are exposed to risky activities which lead to other sexual and reproductive issues such as teenage pregnancy.

However, the CPO is positive that there is a great potential to put a dent to this, seeing that there is already a trending decrease in teenage pregnancy.

The CPO recorded a total of 2,266 teenage pregnancies in 2015 or a 3 percent increase from the 2014 data. Based on the 2015 Integrated HIV Behavioral and Serologic Survey report for Iloilo City, there is an increase of adolescents and young people engaging on risky sexual behaviors leading to prevalence of HIV cases among the young people here.

Reasons identified for young people’s early engagement to sexual activities include peer pressure, curiosity, exposure to pornography and lack of guidance among parents.

In April 2016, a total of 26 HIV cases were diagnosed in Western Visayas of which, 13 came from Iloilo as per report from the Department of Health (DOH)-6. A cumulative total of 565 cases were reported in the province of Iloilo of which, 58 percent or 329 cases were recorded in Iloilo City.

These include young people 15-24 years old, with 23 percent or 76 cases mostly young males or transgenders having sex with other males. Male and female sex workers are also noted to be getting younger. (PNA) LAP/PGL/LCPENDON/CBF