Ntcheu district health office says it has  registered at least 5,000 teen pregnancies in 2020, which is a sharp increase from about 1, 200 in the previous year.

Director of Health and Social Services for Ntcheu Dr. Stephen Macheso attributes the increase to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr. Macheso adds that the numbers were registered in 24 health centers out of 39 facilities the district has and called for partners’ intervention to help reduce the trend.

Meanwhile, Save the Children Malawi with funding from Save the Children Italy, compelled by the alarming figures, has trained 30 youths from four Traditional Authorities in Ntcheu to act as community based distribution agents to help address the challenge of teen pregnancies.