The Minister of Health, Dr. Ruth\nJane Aceng has said that religious leaders in the country do not know the aim\nof the sexuality framework they drafted, saying the clergy is far flung from\nreality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of the\nchallenges we got with the sexuality framework was that religious leaders did\nnot participate in the drafting of that framework and sometimes they do not\nbelieve what we are saying, but when they hear reality they will understand\nwhere we are coming from,\u201d Dr. Aceng said during the annual reproductive,\nmaternal, newborn and adolescent assembly in Kampala yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Minister, the religious leaders ought to actively participate in sensitizing their congregations about reproductive health to help the youth reach their full potential in life.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat I am emphasizing is that we need to give information. Including the religious leaders must talk about teenage pregnancies in the churches,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Early this year,\ngovernment sought the input of the church in the National Sexuality Education\nframework. In their response, the Catholic Church and Church of Uganda issued a\nstatement indicating that introducing sexuality education to children as\nproposed by government is not right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The clerics also\npointed out that under the contested policy, the role of the family is not\nconsidered especially in the early years while children in pre-primary will be\nexposed to content and life skills that are not appropriate for their age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The National\nSexuality Education framework contends that the content is aimed at protecting\nchildren because they are exposed to different forms, frequencies and levels of\nphysical, emotional and sexual violence in their homes and at school as early as\nat a tender age of less than five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It states that\nchildren aged between three and five years also engage in exploratory sexual\nplay that may include gender roles and behaviors. At age\u2019s six to nine, there\nis likelihood of more exposure to sexual gender-based violence, ICT and media,\nthe ministry\u2019s document contends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These reports\nand rising teenage pregnancy rate currently at 25 per cent have continued to\nworry government with various agencies proposing different measures for\nredress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Aceng yesterday said that the religious leaders input was paramount since they deal with the spiritual growth of their flock and ought to be part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ministry Permanent Secretary, Dr. Diana Atwine said that parents should invest time to educating their children especially when it comes to sexuality education and early pregnancy.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want families to take charge of their children. Church leaders also should help to talk to children about sexuality education. But it should primarily start at home, you know charity begins at home,\u201d Dr. Atwine said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Child pregnancies increased to 25% as reflected in the 2016 Uganda Demographic Health Survey report. The report states that 24% of female teenagers are either pregnant or have given birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mortality rate in Uganda stands at 320 per 100,000 from 438 in 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additional Reporting: Daily Monitor<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Minister of Health, Dr. Ruth Jane Aceng has said that religious leaders in the country do not know the aim of the sexuality framework they drafted, saying the clergy is far flung from reality. \u201cOne of the challenges we got with the sexuality framework was that religious leaders did not participate in the drafting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10449,"featured_media":10647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n