{"id":1961,"date":"2026-06-26T10:12:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=1961"},"modified":"2026-06-26T10:12:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:12:20","slug":"rwanda-reports-rise-in-teenage-pregnancies-health-minister-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/26\/rwanda-reports-rise-in-teenage-pregnancies-health-minister-says\/politics\/national\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda reports rise in teenage pregnancies, health minister says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Rwanda records about 600 teenage pregnancies every day, or more than 23,000 cases annually, Health Minister Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana said, warning that the rate has increased in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nsanzimana made the remarks during a youth forum focused on accelerating efforts to prevent and eliminate teenage pregnancies. He said the prevalence rate has risen from about 5% in 2024 to 8% in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He described adolescence as a transition period between childhood and adulthood, saying poor choices during this stage can have long-term consequences on health and future well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister urged parents and teachers to support, rather than stigmatize, girls who become pregnant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cParents, when a child faces this problem, you face it together. It is not a time to insult them. You share the problem,\u201d Nsanzimana said. \u201cTeachers, if a student becomes pregnant while at school and you expel her, you have not helped her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He warned that pregnant teenagers face a higher risk of maternal death due to their physical immaturity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo one should die while giving life, but these outcomes must be prevented,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nsanzimana said children born to teenage mothers are more likely to be born prematurely and face long-term health risks, including stunting. He said about one-third of stunted children are born to teenage mothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also said girls who drop out of school are five times more likely to become pregnant during adolescence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister cited misinformation among young people as another contributing factor, including false beliefs about sexual health and pregnancy risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nsanzimana also pushed back against claims that adults are solely responsible for teenage pregnancies, saying adolescents themselves also play a role alongside older partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said peer pressure in schools and communities, as well as sexual violence, also contribute to the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To address the issue, he called for universal completion of secondary education for girls and improved access to health services for adolescents, including open discussions on sexual and reproductive health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said better education and accurate information are essential to preventing teenage pregnancies and reducing related health risks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rwanda records about 600 teenage pregnancies every day, or more than 23,000 cases annually, Health Minister Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana said, warning that the rate has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,53,51,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts_on_rwanda","category-featured-stories","category-health","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1961"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1965,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1961\/revisions\/1965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}