Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
El Salvador (Agenzia Fides) -El Salvador health authorities are concerned about the growing number of pregnancies among young girls between the ages of 10 and 19. In 2007 the total number of pregnancies in this age group was 17,680.
“This phenomenon, present in El Salvador as in other countries, demands serious attention”, said the director of the only state run Children's Hospital in El Salvador. “Most of the girls are made pregnant by men around them in the family or among friends”.
Of the 17,680 babies born last year to adolescents aged 10 to 19, about 4,014 were delivered at the state run Children's Hospital.
The country needs to give more attention to sexual education beginning with the family and parents have a fundamental role, but in some areas of society the question of pregnancy is still taboo.
In El Salvador, with a population of 5.8 million, in 2007 a total number of 58,370 deliveries were registered in state hospitals alone.
(AP) (24/1/2008 Agenzia Fides; Righe:18; Parole:182)
