By Sylvia
The mayor Fort Portal Tourism City, Edison Asaba Ruyonga, has encouraged the people of Tooro to have as many children as they can, so as to increase the population of the area.
In his speecch during the Tooro regional family planning dialogue organised by Makerere University of health science,USAID, PMA and national population council, held at Fort breeze Fort Portal City today March 21, 2023, the mayor observed a need for Tooro People to first consider giving birth before rushing to family planning.
According to him, many local governments including cities and municipalities are receiving less funding due to lower population.
He observed that population growth in the region, calls for improvement of service delivery through increased funding from both the government and World Bank.
Mayor Asaba on Family Planning
He however advises that it is important for people to start up families and give birth when they are able to cater for the family needs.
“Many people have run into starting up families before evaluating if they can sustain them and this has resulted in domestic violence due to failure to provide the basic needs” Noted Asaba
High teenage pregnancies ranges from 15-19
Philip Akahiirwa from USAID , has in the same engagement mentioned that there are high teenage pregnancies in the country among youths between the age of 15-19.
He attributes this to misconceptions about family planning in Uganda. This according to him, has contributed to increased number of school dropouts among girls in Uganda.
According to statistics in Tooro region, Ntoroko district is leading with high cases of teenage pregnancies by 24%, Bundibugyo 23%, Bunyangabu 15%, Kabarole 13%and Fort portal 13% among others.
Dr. Fredrick Edward Makumbi, from the department of Epidemiology and Bio statistics-School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University has said that some women have largely neglected using family planning methods.
He says that according to the target 2025, At least 39. 6% should use modern family planning and 46% use traditional family planning to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies.
Dr Makumbi added that research shows that in Tooro,39.3% people used modern family planning and only 10.2% used traditional family planning, indicating further need for sensitization among the public.
