Teenage Pregnancy: A Latin-American Concern

Author(s): María Fabiana Reina, Camil Castelo-Branco

Teenage pregnancy, in the context of social healthcare and gender equity, exemplifies the multiple vulnerabilities and deficiencies in children and teenagers’ rights. Accordingly, this phenomenon may be qualified as one of the most complex and dramatic problems in Latin-America’s present healthcare.

In 2013, the teenage fertility rates in Latin-America was 73.2 per thousand, which compared with a 48.9 at a worldwide level, and the 52.7 in developing countries reflects a series of ethical, educational, socio-economic and territorial inequities within these territories. Unfortunately, this situation is related to an early sexual initiation, teenagers’ behavior, a lack of information and comprehensive sexual education, alcohol and drug use at early ages and to the lack of preventive measures for single and repetitive teenage pregnancies and associated risk behaviors by most of the Latin American healthcare system.