Condoms for children? No please. Let's talk about the root of the 'vice'

A group of Christian experts are calling for a sober debate on reproductive health matters concerning adolescents and young adults.

Kenya Christian Professionals Fellowship’s Dr Wahome Ngare dismissed a move to provide condoms to the youth terming it an ill-advised commercial move.

“Why are we considering giving condoms to emotionally incompetent individuals? We need to delay the decision to have sex and this cannot be justified by a programme aimed at giving our teens condoms,” said Dr Ngare who is also an obstetrician and gynaecologist.
Speaking to The Standard on Saturday on phone, he noted that once the ‘need’ is established, it would later be engrained in policy and practice and this would compound the problem even further.

To stem the problem of teen sex, Ngare called for a more concerted effort to role model children from six years to understand the human life-cycle to address their reproductive health concerns.

“Moral education is critical and its foundation must be clear and based on facts given evidently by professionals supported by parents and other leaders,” he said.

He called for frank conversations with pre-teens, teens, adolescents and the young adults on the value of families and the cohesive role of nuclear families. “It takes 24 years of resources and support to bring up a child into an independent adult thus teens should be brought to understand that sex is more than simply having fun,” Ngare explained.

He further urged parents and guardians to take a keen interest in the interactions of their child and foster a culture of trust and openness.

“We have left parenting to teachers, the television and house helps. We need to be more involved,” he pointed out. Ngare echoed earlier sentiments by Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) reproductive health specialist John Ong’ech.

“It is tragic that our girls and women fear pregnancy more than sexually transmitted infections,” Dr Ong’ech said in an earlier interview.

Ngare also reacted to an article published in the Standard on Saturday featuring three young adults admitted at Kenyatta National Hospital undergoing treatment for complications from unsafe abortion.

According to the special report, reproductive health experts at KNH have reported increased cases of infection, ruptured uterus and other reproductive organs after the victims go through botched backstreet abortions.

He also faulted the proposed Reproductive and Child Health Care bill because it left out the views of key stakeholders.