Johannesburg | Monday
A BREAKDOWN in the family structure has been a major cause to health problems such as pregnancies, drug abuse, HIV/Aids and violence among Gauteng youth, a youth health seminar found in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The seminar, sponsored by provincial Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa and attended by youths from 250 organisations, was held to discuss health problems facing the province’s youth.
In a statement on Sunday, Ramokgopa’s representative Simon Zwane said the gathering followed the MEC’s concern that despite the government’s attempts to assist them, young people continued to be at a high risk of health problems, including sexual abuse, gender-based violence, accidents, unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases such as Aids.
Zwane said that about four million South Africans, half that number adolescents and young adults, contract sexually transmitted diseases each year.
”Information from Gauteng clinics in 2000/01 indicates that men with urethral discharge (or drop) constitute 24,7% of people who consult clinics for the first time with a sexually transmitted disease,” he said.
Teenage pregnancies also remained unacceptably high, with 35% of teenagers having been pregnant or given birth by the age of 19.
”The spread of HIV infection among the country’s youth has also been daunting. The October 2000 national antenatal sero-prevalence survey showed that HIV prevalence among women in their twenties had increased significantly between 1991 and 2000.”
Young people at the seminar identified dysfunctional families, lack of communication between parents and child, as well as peer pressure as factors fuelling problems such as gender-based violence and drug abuse.
Zwane said the findings would be discussed at a workshop to be held later this year to formulate appropriate youth-friendly policies. – Sapa