Nyore Madzianike-Senior Reporter
ZIMBABWE has an adolescent pregnancy rate of approximately 24 percent among girls aged between 10 and 19, with a significant proportion of these pregnancies linked to sexual violence, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora has said.
The statistic indicates that nearly a quarter of young girls in the country have experienced pregnancy.
In response, the Government is strengthening awareness programmes, referral pathways, and confidentiality safeguards to improve access to sexual and reproductive health services, particularly for adolescent victims of sexual abuse who legally qualify for the termination of pregnancy.
Answering questions in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Dr Mombeshora outlined the multi-faceted barriers adolescents face when accessing reproductive healthcare, including limited information, social stigma, and privacy concerns. He emphasised that the high pregnancy rate underscores the urgent need for robust interventions to protect young girls from abuse while ensuring victims receive comprehensive medical and psychosocial support.
“Zimbabwe has a high adolescent pregnancy rate of approximately 24 percent among girls aged 10 to 19, a significant proportion of which involves sexual violence,” Dr Mombeshora said.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care is expanding educational campaigns on reproductive rights, specifically highlighting the legal ages of consent for sexual activity and marriage. These initiatives are being deployed across youth-led platforms and mass media channels.
National multi-sectoral guidelines on managing sexual and gender-based violence mandate that victims present at health facilities within 72 to 120 hours of an assault to access emergency interventions to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
“We are therefore both preventive and curative in our approaches through primary healthcare facilities and community health workers,” Dr Mombeshora added.
Regarding the termination of pregnancy, the minister stated the Government is taking administrative steps to ensure adolescents who meet statutory requirements can access information, referrals, and medical services without restrictive bureaucratic delays.
The current multi-sectoral framework provides child-friendly, stigma-free referral pathways across medical, social, and legal sectors to prioritise the best interests of the minor.
Dr Mombeshora re-emphasised the mandate for absolute patient confidentiality within healthcare institutions, noting that the privacy rights of adolescents are strictly protected to the extent permitted by law. The ministry is reviewing operational procedures to eliminate unnecessary administrative bottlenecks that hinder or delay timely assistance to eligible victims.
“The ministry will continue, within the existing legal framework, to use administrative measures to ensure that those who qualify receive services to which they are entitled while awaiting the finalisation of the judicial process and advancement of related legislative reform,” he said.
