In Latin America and the Caribbean, about one and a half million pregnancies occur each year in children under 15-16 years of age. In Mexico alone, around 1,000 teenage pregnancies occur every day, of which 20 are in children under 15 years of age.
It is an unfortunate reality that has not been solved for decades, and during the pandemic it worsened. Data from the National Population Council (Conapo) reveal that in the last two years adolescent pregnancy in Mexico will have risen by no less than 30%. The total births of adolescent mothers in 2021 was 373,661, that is, more than 1,000 per day.
The most alarming thing was the registration of 8,876 births to mothers under 14 years of age, many of them the product of sexual violence derived from confinement. In Mexico City in the last year, 261 pregnancies of girls under 14 years of age were registered; 80% of them were concentrated in three municipalities: Cuajimalpa, Milpa Alta and Xochimilco.
There are many factors that trigger it, among the main ones: poverty, lack of services, but above all, sexual violence. These factors lead to the beginning of sexual life at an early age and without protection, a lack or incorrect and irregular use of contraceptive methods, limitations for comprehensive sexual education and early unions that are not only socially permitted but encouraged in many communities.
Any effort to combat this scourge is encouraging, but a public-private partnership is even more so because joining forces always brings better results. We are talking about the recently signed alliance between public organizations such as Conapo, IMJUVE, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the pharmaceutical company Organon, as well as local government entities, such as the CdMx Ministry of Health and the federal Ministry of Education. , in addition to the legislature of the capital and NGOs interested in the subject.
The objective is to design and implement a community intervention model to prevent adolescent pregnancy. It will be in line with the National Strategy for the Prevention of Pregnancy in Adolescents (ENAPEA) of the Ministry of Health. They will start with a two-year pilot program in Xochimilco, the mayor’s office where the second highest adolescent fertility rate is recorded in CdMx: 81 births per thousand, in contrast to the Benito Juárez mayor’s office (11/1,000) and the average for the equity (47.8/1000).
Organon’s CEO, Kevin Ali, came to Mexico expressly to sign the agreement. Headquartered in New Jersey, Organon is a global company focused on positively impacting and making a difference in women’s health throughout their lives. She could not be the most suitable to collaborate in one of the most necessary health challenges in Mexico and Latin America: reducing adolescent pregnancy.
And the planets aligned to make it so. One of its 6 manufacturing plants that Organon has in the world -the only one in North America- is located in Xochimilco, and now it will support to carry out the pilot in that city hall. The agreement will involve providing resources so that all the work, which will largely be focused on education, works. They envisage tools to make information available not only to girls, but also to their caregivers, teachers, and mothers. The goal is to reach 35,000 female and male adolescents in Xochimilco. An app will open and there will be vans that will take the services and orientation to the communities.
The long-term objective is to eradicate maternity in girls under 15 years of age and reduce the fertility rate in adolescents between 15 and 19 years of age by 50%.
Alanna Armitage, UNFPA representative in Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, estimates that the model can be replicated not only in similar demarcations of Mexico City, such as Milpa Alta and Tláhuac, but also in other states of Mexico and in other countries of Latin America.
New treatment vs Covid, now from Astra Zéneca
AstraZeneca welcomes the European Union’s authorization to market its combination of long-acting antibodies called AZD7442. They are indicated for prevention of Covid19, prior to exposure to the virus, particularly for the vulnerable or immunocompromised population that is at higher risk and needs additional protection, including those who are not adequately protected with the anticovid vaccine and/or for those who are at higher risk. of exposition.
The idea of the pharmaceutical company, according to its directors, is to have AZD7442 available as soon as possible in as many countries as possible. In Mexico, the dossier has already been presented to Cofepris and they trust that in the following months it will be receiving authorization, so that it can then be entered into the Compendium of Inputs that the Health Council maintains.
Injustice against nursing professional
Great disagreement has arisen among the nursing professionals who are demanding a stop to the injustice committed against the nursing professional Miguel Jiménez Miles, who, fulfilling his duties, performed a cytology and an examination to prevent breast cancer. However, today he is detained in the Oriente Preventive Men’s Prison in CdMx accused of having overstepped his work. The problem is that the administrative staff -who are unaware of the capacity and functions of nursing- admit the request of a patient, wrongly accepting that, since she was not a doctor, she was not authorized to perform said procedure, which is a common mistake that obviously affects nursing professionals.
The most serious thing is the historical disqualification of the professional competence of Nursing on the part of the health service personnel themselves, who are unable to understand the level of professional development of nurses. In addition to the fact that they are regulated procedures and established by the health authority.
Journalist on economics and health issues
Health and Business
Communicator specialized in public health and the health industry. She is studying a master’s degree in Health Systems Administration at FCA of UNAM.
Founder in 2004 of www.Plenilunia.com, a concept on women’s health. I am passionate about researching and reporting on health, innovation, the industry related to science, and finding the objective business approach to each topic.