Adolescent sexual and reproductive health for all in sub-Saharan Africa: a spotlight on inequalities

Chandra-Mouli, Venkatraman, Neal, Sarah and Moller, Ann-Beth (2021) Adolescent sexual and reproductive health for all in sub-Saharan Africa: a spotlight on inequalities. Reproductive Health, 18 (118), [118]. (doi:10.1186/s12978-021-01145-4).

Abstract

The focus of this supplement is on inequalities in the levels and trends of progress on sexual and reproductive health among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. Whereas adolescents did not get the attention they deserved in the context of the Millennium Development Goals, there is strong commitment to ensuring that they are not left behind in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals [1]. The need to pay particular attention to their sexual and reproductive health needs was reinforced in the list of key actions for the future implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development at the Nairobi Summit [2]. Two recent reports highlight the unequal burden of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) problems in adolescents, and their unequal access to the SRH services. Just-published data suggest that the prevalence of violence against women in relation to intimate partner violence starts early in the lives of girls/young women with nearly one in four of every married/partnered 15–19-year-olds already being subjected to physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner at least once, and that the levels of violence in the last 12 months (16%) are higher in this age group [3]. Data released by the Guttmacher Institute stressed that as of 2019, adolescents faced vast unmet needs for sexual and reproductive health services (e.g., 41% of adolescent girls aged 15–19 who wanted to avoid a pregnancy had unmet needs for contraception, whereas the comparable rate in 15–49-year-olds was 24%), and projected that this was likely to worsen in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic’s movement restrictions and service disruptions [4].

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Contributors

Author: Sarah Neal

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