Report: Garissa residents least use contraceptives

By Abdikadir Sugow

GARISSA, KENYA: Adult mortality indicators show that females in Garissa County live for nine years longer than males. This is according to the Kenya Population Situation Analysis report, which was launched in the county on Tuesday.

The study presented grim statistics which showed North Eastern is the region with the highest prevalence of early marriages with about one in every five women aged between 25 and 49 years getting married at age 15 years.

The report further showed the region to have the least acceptance and use of contraceptives with 96 percent of women not using family planning in controlling population growth and thereby frustrating the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals and the Vision 2030.

Speaking during the launch of the report, Garissa Deputy Governor Abdullahi Hussein lauded the dissemination of the survey in the county saying the Government of Garissa would support fully its recommendations on population and health policies and strategies alongside entrenching them in the County Integrated Development Plan.

“The uncomfortable picture that emerges when we view these statistics means that responsibility lies with us to try and stop the bleeding. These are numbers we no longer want our region to be associated with hence we will work to ensure that by the time the next survey comes round, we will be at the right end,” said Hussein.

Speaking also during the launch, Peter Nyakwara, deputy director communication, advocacy and public education at the National Council for Population and Development which compiled the report called on county governments countrywide to invest in functional data generation tools to generate indicators at county level which would help them when planning their developmental projects.

The report attributes disparities in income and education among households in Kenya as major factors leading to early pregnancies.

Increasing levels of education and household wealth led to a girl’s delayed marriages thereby reducing the chances of early pregnancies.

“Kenyan girls who are relatively poor or who have little education enter into marriages earlier than their better off counterparts leading to poorer households having more children than the wealthy families,” reads the report.

The report also shows the poorest segment of the population does not have access to contraceptives and reproductive health and that contraceptives use for the last 50 years has been more popular with the educated population.

“The poorest of the poor families have an average of eight children whereas their wealthy counterparts have an average of three children.”