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The Government should be commended for clarifying that it has no policy that advocates provision of contraceptives for girls as young as 10 years of age. There had been concern countrywide following the announcement at the weekend that the Ministry of Health and Child Care was pushing for the introduction of a legal framework to support the distribution of contraceptives to “adolescents” aged between 10 and 24 to curtail teenage pregnancies.
Among the contraceptives are birth control pills, implants, injectables and condoms.
The director of family health in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Bernard Madzima, had been quoted saying the authorities took the decision following a sharp increase in teenage pregnancies and a high maternal mortality rate.
But the Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr David Parirenyatwa, on Tuesday said Government had no such policy as it was guided by social, cultural and medical factors in the formulation of all policies.
“We as a Ministry of Health and Child Care, we do not have a policy that advocates giving contraceptives to under age children.
“We are very clear about this. Clear because we are guided not only by our policy, but by the socio-cultural and medical prerogatives in our country,” Dr Parirenyatwa told journalists at a Press conference in Harare.
Dr Parirenyatwa said the fact that the age of majority was 18 years and that of marriage was 16 years, meant that anyone below these age groups was considered under age.
He said his Ministry, in conjunction with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, advocates gradual sex education for children.
The weekend reports were certainly disturbing and alarming because there is no need to start teaching 10-year-olds what they are not supposed to know. Giving 10-year-olds contraceptives would have undermined the country’s social fabric.
Child rights activists had condemned the push for the legalisation of the distribution of contraceptives to the 10–24-year age group saying it was a “recipe for disaster” that would not solve anything but worsen the problem.
Members of the public had also criticised the move saying it would expose young girls to manipulation by men.
Perhaps there is also need to thoroughly investigate the cause of the rise in teenage pregnancies because not all girls who fall pregnant would have consented to intercourse.
A lot of girls are being sexually abused by their fathers, step fathers, uncles, other relatives, neighbours, teachers and pastors. While some of the cases are reported, a good number are also not reported because the children might be intimidated by the perpetrators of the abuse.
Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development Minister Cde Oppah Muchinguri is right to say that if the Health and Child Care Ministry had approved giving contraceptives to 10-year-olds, it would have meant giving the young girls freedom to have sexual intercourse.
As Cde Muchinguri said, giving contraceptives to girls as young as 10 years was against Zimbabwean norms and values.
It is important that we do not teach our children the wrong way. We are already witnessing a trend where our children are engaging in wayward behaviour and with such freedom to engage in sexual intercourse, what would be left of our social fabric?
We read stories of young children who are killing their parents and stealing guns from their parents.
If statistics, which are obviously derived from research, show that the age of sexual activity was 15 years 9 months for girls, what would have been the rationale behind giving 10-year-olds contraceptives?
Online Reporter