ORGANIC EGGS

to the 2008 Reproductive Health Survey, 40 per cent of women had a child before they reached the age of 20 years and 85 per cent of these pregnancies were unplanned.

A girl is more likely to experience unwanted pregnancy under circumstances of social exclusion, poverty, marginalization and gender inequality, where she is unable to fully enjoy or exercise her basic human rights, or where access to health care, schooling, information, services and economic opportunities are limited. In the Caribbean, among adolescents who engage in risky sexual behaviours, these actions may stem from social, financial/economic and cultural factors that must be addressed if the adolescent birth rate and sexual risk-taking among adolescents are to be reduced.

It has been said that other influencers that place young people at risk and further underscore the need for them to use a contraceptive to avert pregnancy or the contraction of an STI include:

Being subjects of coerced

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Powerlessness in negotiating contraceptive use.

Non-use of contraceptive at first sex.

Poverty. Strategies that the NFPBSHA has reportedly implemented as part of its ZIKV campaign to avert adverse fetal

Eggs are rich in biotin and iron, which help to promote healthy, youthful skin and hair. Rich in good cholesterol, eggs can be consumed daily. outcomes as well as protect the country’s young people, and the wider public, are varied.

When contacted, the executive director of the NFPBSHA, Dr Denise Chevannes, said these have included:

Ensuring adequate stock levels of contraceptives for distribution islandwide, through the regional health authorities.

Providing educational material on contraceptives as well as ZIKV to public health facilities, other agencies and individuals.

Increasing radio, print and television advertising to highlight contraceptive use in pregnancy prevention. Face-to-face interventions. Training community peer educators and teen mothers.

Updating the entity’s website and social media presence.

The ‘Choose 2’ (dual-method use of a condom and another contraceptive method to prevent sexual transmission of HIV, sexually transmitted infections and Zika as well as unplanned pregnancies) campaign of the NFPB-SHA seeks to, among other things, bring about awareness of the contraceptive options. The campaign has been ramped up to support the Ministry of Health’s national campaign to eliminate the spread of the Zika virus, especially as it relates to its potentially harmful effect on pregnancies.

For decades, the local programme has been supported by key funding partners to address the high incidence of adolescent pregnancy by increasing public awareness of ASRH issues, and providing increased access to SRH commodities for adolescents with a view to addressing prevailing challenges.

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