Adults view teenage pregnancy as a national issue that all sectors should be aware of.
Life and Death Aspect because teenagers who become pregnant and cannot find a solution may resort to unsafe abortions, which are dangerous to themselves. They might buy abortion pills to take on their own, which could lead to injury, blood infections, and ultimately death.
Economic Aspect is that when teenagers become pregnant, they have to drop out of school, which deprives them of educational opportunities, resulting in limited knowledge and the inability to work in high-paying jobs.
Health Aspect Teenage mothers are pregnant at an age when they are not ready to take care of themselves, lacking knowledge in accessing public health services. They may not attend prenatal care as scheduled, and the infant may be born prematurely with low birth weight.
Aspect of the Child Born Teenagers may have limitations in raising their children appropriately, facing various pressures, which may lead them to abandon their children in different places.
These issues impact the overall national income, which means the future of Thailand.
All sectors are therefore working together to address teenage pregnancy issues according to the law, such as the Act on Prevention and Solution of the Adolescent Pregnancy Problem. This includes the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, Ministry of Interior, as well as the private sector and civil society, to take this as a serious legal mission.
The important thing is whether adults allow teenagers to participate in thinking, initiating, deciding, and setting directions together with adults, or are teenagers merely used as decoration, doing things ceremonially, or just fulfilling assigned duties…
Report from the 3rd National Conference on Sexual Health
Teenage Pregnancy from Strategy to Sustainable Practice, January 28-30, 2019