31 Aug 2020

School drop outs and teenage pregnancies especially in schools located in settlements are worrying.

A report by presented during Serowe Sub-district council meeting by the district officer-development, indicated that the quarter under review recorded 90 pregnancies of which 69 were pupils  under the age of 18 while the previous quarter recorded 89 and 80 being 18 years.

Ms Itumeleng Peter reported that out of the 90 teenage pregnancies recorded, five tested HIV positive.

Councilors learnt that due to COVID-19 regulations, some mitigations measures such as health talks done in collaboration with stakeholders including the police, social workers, community leaders and ministry of education officials, were interrupted.

They also called for justice to be meted out without fail, to those impregnating under age pupils.

Ms Peter indicated that there was low uptake of female condoms adding that they had appealed to the health ministry to procure female models for demonstrations.

She also noted that the sub-district was experiencing a shortage of condoms, especially female condoms, due to unavailability from the Central Medical Stores (CMS).

Regarding drug availability she said there was no improvement in drug availability for vital, essential and non-essential drugs due to inadequate stock from CMS and inefficient supply and delivery from private suppliers.

Councilors learnt that there were 15 cases of Malaria and 1 Malaria related death recorded during the quarter under review in Serowe.

Twelve were reported to be local cases and three imported within Botswana from Malaria prone areas. BOPA