World Contraceptive Day: Having children is by choice – Enyida

Tina Amanda

As Rivers state joins the rest of the world to mark 2019 World Contraceptive Day with the theme; “it’s your Life, it’s your Responsibility”, Youths and adolescents have been advised to make right choices in their sexual behaviours by embracing Life Planning Contraceptive, in order to prevent problems of unwanted pregnancies, transmitted sexual diseases and adolescent maternal mortality.

Director, Public Health, Rivers State Ministry of Health, Dr Golden Owhonda, who stated this during a seminar organised by Family Planning Advocacy Working Group at the University of Portharcourt Teaching Hospital, said statistics have shown that twenty-five per cent (25%) of adolescents are involved in sexual activities which is the cause of most social vices in the society.

According to him, sensitisation on family planning is a necessary investment towards realising demographic and socio-economic dividend, as it will contribute to an increase in Contraceptive prevalence within the locality.

“This kind of things is what we want to hear from People in policymaking, where technicality and desire meet together, youth and adolescent occupy a prominent position in polices and technicality that will be used to change the indices. Peer pressure, adventurous drive and the fact that we know the adolescent brain is developing, is a major interest to us in public health.”

Also, Chairman Family Planning Advocacy Working Group, Rivers State, Professor Cosmos Eyinda, who spoke to our reporter Tina Amanda, said youths and adolescents need to be sensitised that having children is by choice and not by chance, adding that so many problems in the society are believed to be caused by children gotten from unwanted pregnancies.

People should begin to embrace contraception, family planning is something that if we embrace most of the ills we face in the society will be resolved, because when you have a child at the time you need it, that child becomes a blessing to the family and not a curse, the society and the world at large will benefit from the child.

“When a child is had through an unwanted pregnancy, you are creating room for miscreants, bandits, rapist, militants, and serial killers we have today in society. So, people should begin to have children when they need children, the issue of having children is by choice and not by chance that is what family planning is all about.”