In India, thousands of adolescent mothers and their perinatal and neonatal babies die each year; and lakhs of women and children suffer from morbidity caused by teenage pregnancy.

Delaying the onset of child-bearing could reduce India’s projected 2050 population of 1.7 billion by 25.1 percent.

Public health system in India is already wobbling from high demand and low resources. Death of hundreds of children in government hospitals in Bihar, UP, Rajasthan in just the past two-and-half years is evidence of that. A program to prevent teen pregnancy will reduce the pressure on the limited public healthcare resources and will save tens of thousands of lives each year. Such a program is the crying need of the hour.
Continue reading TEENAGE PREGNANCY IS A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE