Cutting down on teen pregnancy in Thailand.

Cutting down on teen pregnancy in Thailand.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) notes that while Thailand's teen pregnancy rates have been declining significantly as a result of progressive legislation, more can be done to further reduce them if girls' and young women's rights are upheld. |.

Asa Torkelsson, the Fund's Country Director in Thailand, spoke to UN News in advance of the annual celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child on October 11 and described how the UN supports access to sexual and reproductive health, particularly for young people.

UN News: How common is teen pregnancy in Thailand?

Asa Torkelsson: Over the past ten years, the Thai government has significantly decreased the number of teen pregnancies with the assistance of local and international partners like UNFPA. The rate of births among women aged 15 to 19 reached 53.04 per 1,000 in 2011, which is the highest level ever recorded in Thailand.

The legislation passed in 2016 had a target of halving the rate within ten years, but it was achieved by 2021. As a result, the legislation has been amended to set a target of 15 births per 1,000 people by 2027 instead. Thailand is doing very well, according to the statistics, but more work needs to be done.

What else needs to be done to lower the rate of teen pregnancies, according to UN News?

Asa Torkelsson: A number of social problems are what lead to teenage pregnancy. They include discrimination against people seeking access to contraception, gender inequality, poverty, sexual assault, and coercion, as well as unfavorable attitudes toward women and girls. Numerous attempts to lower it also fail to take into account the crucial role played by boys and men. More needs to be done to encourage a masculinity that respects the worth of women and girls and pays attention to their voices.

Supporting girls' rights and giving them the tools to prevent adolescent pregnancy calls for a more all-encompassing strategy. Such a strategy should involve providing age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education to all young people, creating gender-equitable societies by empowering girls and involving boys, as well as taking steps to ensure access to sexual and reproductive health information and services that welcome and support them in their decisions.

Asa Torkelsson, the country director of UNFPA Thailand, pays a visit to a local population in a rural part of northern Thailand.

In order to create safe spaces for young people to talk about their sexual and reproductive health and their family planning preferences, it is important that young people, families, and communities get involved.

UN News: What function do stigma and prejudice serve?

Asa Torkelsson: Pregnant young women can encounter prejudice anywhere in the world, and Thailand is no exception. Teenage pregnancies may be stigmatized in Thailand because it is a traditional society in many ways and may be viewed with great disapproval.

Despite sexuality education being a required part of the curriculum, many young girls who have spoken with UNFPA claim they did not receive any useful sexual education while attending school. Others have claimed that they felt awkward or ashamed for asking for contraception because medical professionals would look down on them and spread rumors about them.

In the worst cases, this stigmatization and discrimination force adolescent mothers to leave school and may even result in their own families abandoning them.

UN News: What are teen pregnancies' long-term effects?

According to Asa Torkelsson, most teen pregnancies are unintended and unplanned, which frequently results in a number of difficulties.

Many teenagers are not yet in physical condition to become pregnant or give birth, making them more susceptible to complications. In Thailand, early pregnancy is actually the main cause of death among young girls.

Additionally, they frequently come from lower-income households in Thailand, which combined with the fact that many of them are nutritionally malnourished raises the risks of pregnancy and childbirth.

Due to the high dropout rates, adolescent pregnancy has a significant negative impact on a girl's ability to complete her education and earn a living.

UN News/Daniel Dickinson With the help of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), Thai students are learning about sexual and reproductive health issues.

UN News: In terms of sexual and reproductive health issues, how advanced is Thailand?

Asa Torkelsson: The Thai government has made great efforts to ensure that everyone who lives in Thailand has the right to sexual and reproductive health, including young people.

All people now have access to healthcare thanks to the introduction of the universal health coverage system in 2002. This includes access to family planning services and a variety of birth control methods, such as long-acting contraceptive implants and the contraceptive pill. Every young Thai person could get up to 10 free condoms per week starting in 2021.

Moreover, as part of the Act for the Prevention and Solution of the Adolescent Pregnancy Problem, additional legislation with a focus on teen pregnancy was passed in 2016. In particular for teenage girls who become pregnant, the law guarantees fundamental rights for children, including the right to an education, and states that it is against the law to deny those rights.

UN News: Has the law made a difference in teen pregnancy rates?

Asa Torkelsson: Enacting law alone is not enough to create effective legislation. Making sure the Thai healthcare industry is properly educated on the new standards and how to handle young pregnant girls will take a lot of work.

UNFPA Thailand/Chalit Saphaph UNFPA collaborates with both public and private partners, such as Reckitt, to guarantee that women and girls from all communities have access to sexual and reproductive health information and care.

In order to engage boys and fully inform girls of their rights, attitudes throughout society must also change. More funding should be allocated to education, particularly at the secondary level.

Young people in a society that is rapidly getting older are seen as the key to future prosperity, so it is obvious that the government wants to make sure they have access to and can enjoy their rights to sexual and reproductive health.

For its part, UNFPA is establishing a number of new partnerships to aid government initiatives and make sure that young people, particularly those who reside in rural areas, in ethnic communities, and in low-income households, are able to exercise their rights.

We collaborate with the private sector, famous people, social media influencers, advocates who are disabled, and groups of young people who are at risk.

.