Teenage sexual activity in Zambia: the need for a sex education policy

Pillai, Vijayan K.; Yates, Donald L.

doi:10.1017/s0021932000020733

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…On the contrary, the Catholic religion was found to be encouraging education of adolescents about abortion in the Philippines. 12 Regarding information from the household, it was found that teenagers received very little sex education from their parents in Zambia, 13 which could be due to the fact that talking about sex is often still regarded as taboo in many African societies, including the DRC.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge and attitude of schoolgirls about illegal abortions in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo

Paluku¹,

Mabuza

Maduna³

et al. 2010

Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med

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BackgroundAdolescent sexual activity, early pregnancy, induced abortion and the increase in HIV infection have become major concerns in sub-Saharan Africa and understanding adolescent sexual behaviour remains a challenge. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the practice of illegal abortions is prevalent among school-going adolescent girls with unplanned pregnancies. Assessing their attitude and knowledge on the subject could be a starting point from which to address the problem.ObjectivesTo determine the knowledge of schoolgirls in Goma, DRC about the health consequences of illegal abortions and to assess their attitude towards these abortions.MethodA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among a randomly selected sample of 328 high school girls aged 16 to 20 years. A pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Nine out of 55 (11 public and 44 private) secondary schools were randomly selected for inclusion in the study. The Epi-Info 2000 computer program was used for data capturing and analysis.ResultsThe different sources of information were the radio (66.2%, 217), friends (31.7%, 104), parents (1.5%, 5), and the church (0.5%, 2). The health consequences of illegal abortion mentioned were death, infertility, infection and bleeding. Of the participants, 9.8% (32) had committed an abortion before and 46% (151) knew where to obtain it; 76.2% (250) of participants were against illegal abortion, while 23.8% (78) supported it.ConclusionGirls in secondary school in Goma had good knowledge of the illegal abortion practice and its consequences. A fifth of them were in support of the procedure. The DRC government may need to consider legalising abortion to secure a healthy future for affected girls.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge and attitude of schoolgirls about illegal abortions in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo

Paluku¹,

Mabuza

Maduna³

et al. 2010

Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med

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“…The intervention was designed after a needs assessment was conducted that included focus group interviews with adolescents [12] and a review of literature on Zambian adolescents [e.g. [13][14][15][16].…”

Section: The Zambia Peer Sexual Health Interventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of a school-based peer sexual health intervention on normative beliefs, risk perceptions, and sexual behavior of Zambian adolescents

Agha

Rossem

2004

Journal of Adolescent Health

123

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“…To ensure that the intervention would be in sync with the social context in which Zambian adolescents develop their attitudes toward sexual behavior, the design of the SFH intervention was informed by focus groups with adolescents (Mwaba, 1999) and findings from other studies in Zambia (Campbell & Kelly, 1995;Pillai & Kelley, 1993;Pillai & Yates, 1993;van den Borne, Tweedie, & Morgan, 1996). Based on this information, a peer sexual health intervention was designed that focused on several important areas/issues simultaneously.…”

Section: The Sfh Peer Sexual Health Interventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Peer Sexual Health Intervention Among Secondary-School Students In Zambia

Agha¹

2002

AIDS Education and Prevention

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This study investigated whether there were any changes in knowledge and normative beliefs regarding abstinence and condoms and personal risk perception of acquiring HIV among Zambian secondary-school students who were exposed to a peer sexual health intervention. Schools were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. A baseline assessment that measured knowledge, normative beliefs about abstinence and condoms and personal risk perception was conducted in all schools. Students in the intervention group were exposed for a 1-hour-and-45-minute-long in-class peer sexual health intervention. Students in the control schools were exposed to a 1-hour-long in-class peer water purification intervention. A follow-up assessment of students was conducted after the intervention. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine whether significant differences between intervention and control groups emerged at follow-up. Relative to students in the control group, knowledge was higher and normative beliefs about abstinence and condoms were significantly more positive among students in the intervention schools. Students in the intervention schools also had a higher personal risk perception of acquiring HIV than students in control schools. These findings show that a school-based peer sexual health intervention implemented in Zambia was effective in increasing knowledge, positive normative beliefs about abstinence and condoms, and personal risk perception.

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Teenage sexual activity in Zambia: the need for a sex education policy

Cited by 8 publications

References 4 publications

Knowledge and attitude of schoolgirls about illegal abortions in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo

Knowledge and attitude of schoolgirls about illegal abortions in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo

Impact of a school-based peer sexual health intervention on normative beliefs, risk perceptions, and sexual behavior of Zambian adolescents

An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Peer Sexual Health Intervention Among Secondary-School Students In Zambia

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