WHO - World Health Organization Regional Office for South-East Asia

07/11/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/11/2024 00:58

Regional Director calls for effective strategies, cross sectoral collaboration and equitable access to services for adolescents

Regional Director WHO South-East Asia, Ms Saima Wazed's address at the inaugural of Regional Consultation on Adolescent Pregnancy Policy/ Legal and Programmatic barriers to adolescents and young people's access to health information and services across South Asia, in Kathmandu, Nepal, today.

Our South-East Asia Region (SEAR) accounts for 26% of the population of the planet, and 29% of the global adolescent population (10-19 years).

Adolescents in our Region face both gender specific as well as shared health challenges, including high mortality, and morbidity rates. Nearly 670 adolescents die every day, mostly from preventable causes.

Almost 6 million teenage girls, aged 15 to 19, give birth annually in our Region. Adolescent pregnancy is closely linked to child marriage: a common harmful practice in the region, driven by underlying social and gender norms.

Watch the Regional Director's video speech:

WHO - World Health Organization Regional Office for South-East Asia published this content on July 11, 2024, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on July 11, 2024 at 06:58 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]