About 95 000 children in Zimbabwe fall pregnant due to child marriages each year, new data has revealed. Statistics show that approximately 500 000 teenagers fall pregnant every year, with 19 percent of the pregnancies in this group a result of child marriages. Adolescent pregnancy remains a major challenge and contributor to maternal and child mortality and the vicious circle of ill-health and poverty in Zimbabwe. The same report says 48 percent of adolescents have confirmed that the pregnancies were unplanned, while 45 percent said they wanted a child. We are also working towards increasing contraceptive prevalence in Zimbabwe from 65,6 percent to 68 percent by 2020," he said.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 08, 2017 22:07 UTC