THE National Family Planning Board (NFPB) hosted a youth forum last Wednesday at the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica. Under the topic, ‘reproductive health of Jamaica’s adolescents’, the forum tackled areas such as contraceptive use, adolescent sexual behaviours and adolescent fertility. The event saw representatives from all corners of the island.

What started as merely disseminating findings of a 2008 Reproductive Health Survey, ended with representatives of various schools giving their views and comments on the different areas covered.

The main objectives of the forum were to provide information on the sexual behaviour of adolescents that influence their sexual reproductive health, to highlight the adolescent use of contraceptives and to examine adolescent fertility patterns.

Although abstinence is promoted throughout some schools through the NFPB’s ‘Abstinence Mek Sense’ programme, the reality is that many adolescents are in fact sexually active.

As a result, the NFPB sought to educate the youth on different contraceptives that are available. Some of the most popular methods were the condom and the pill.

They continue to inform the cohort of adolescents about the dangers of TEENage pregnancy. According to the study conducted in 2008, TEENage pregnancy continues the cycle of poverty.

In addition, there is a chance that the baby will have problems because the young lady’s body is underdeveloped; in other words, she is immature.

Information from the Registrar General Department (RGD) regarding the number of live births during the years 2005 to 2009 among youths below 15 years showed a steady decrease from 301 to 206. The number of births for youths 15 to 19 for the corresponding years decreased from 8267 to 7406.

The NFPB has observed these results and continues to educate youth about abstinence and using proper contraceptive methods to help reduce the number of teen pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in Jamaica.