The Maternal and Infant Care Program (PAMI in Spanish) closes the year 2023 with its sights set on reducing teenage pregnancy, one of the main problems that directly affects the well-being of mothers-to-be and their newborns in the Tunas region.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- Dr. Norkis Sánchez Alonso, a second-degree specialist in General Comprehensive Medicine (MGI in Spanish) and director of Medical Assistance, Medicines, and Health Technologies, commented to 26 that although there are fewer pregnancies at an early age than in the previous calendar, the province continues to contribute one of the highest rates of this scourge in the country.
It is imperative to build alliances with health care for assertive communication that views adolescent pregnancy as a real problem," she said. I must warn that many families today have normalized it, even ignoring the comorbidities that are associated with it and put not only the baby's life at risk but also that of the pregnant woman.
"The municipalities of Jobabo and Majibacoa have the highest incidences of pregnancies at very early ages, between 12 and 14 years of age. We have been working with Education, from teacher training, health promotion, and intervention in the centers with the most vulnerable age groups and a positive impact has been achieved, we started in January with 82 pregnancies and the figures have decreased, although there is still a lot to do."
Sánchez Alonso explained that in the second half of the year, there has been very good coverage of contraceptive methods in the territory, boosted by a countrywide strategy, as Las Tunas is, among the 50 municipalities on the island, with the most complex situation due to this problem.
The protection of Adolescent Standards, a program successfully developed by the health area of the Gustavo Aldereguía polyclinic in this city, has had an impact on PAMI and is a national reference. It has provided resources and tools to improve comprehensive care for this age group. The good news is that Jobabo has joined this experience.
The Perinatology service of the Ernesto Guevara hospital is increasingly alarmed by the fact that the institution is increasingly confronted with adolescent pregnant women, who are the most complicated in the process because they are physiologically unprepared and have risk factors for triggering pathologies such as pre-eclampsia, which generally lead them to Intensive Care.
During the year 2023, 113 puerperal women were admitted to intensive care, a higher number than in previous calendars, of which 31 were adolescents, representing 27.4 percent. The reality of the situation in Tunisia warns that teenage pregnancy is a lurking danger, with an impact on maternal death indicators.
