1,000 Teenage Girls Get Pregnant Everyday in Uganda

ParrotsugNov 5, 2026Read original

Uganda is still losing the fight against teenage pregnancy, with at least 1,000 girls aged 15-19 getting pregnant every day, health officials have revealed.

Speaking at a Media Cafe organized by the Health Journalists Network Uganda (HEJNU) in partnership with Palladium and BBC Media Action, Dr. Irene Mweyango, Assistant Commissioner for Adolescent and School Health at the Ministry of Health, said teenage pregnancy is not a health sector problem alone, but a national crisis that needs combined efforts.

“Teenage pregnancy is a big challenge that needs combined efforts, but not a one sector issue,” Dr. Mweyango told journalists.

Uganda has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in East Africa, with approximately 25% of adolescent girls aged 15-19 having begun childbearing. That translates to 1 in every 4 young women giving birth or becoming pregnant before turning 19, and over 30,000 teenage pregnancies recorded every month nationwide.

Dr. Mweyango warned that complications from pregnancy, unsafe abortions and childbirth remain among the leading causes of death and disability for young Ugandan women aged 15 to 19. She said the Ministry of Health is working around the clock to equip all health workers with the right information and knowledge to handle adolescent cases.She urged teen mothers to start on family planning immediately after delivery to avoid consecutive pregnancies, and to continue with their education.

“Only about one-third of adolescent mothers return to school after giving birth,” she noted, a trend that severely curtails their long-term potential.

Mondo Kyateka, Assistant Commissioner at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, highlighted poverty and poor parenting as key drivers of teenage pregnancy.He gave a shocking illustration of the school dropout crisis:

“Over two million pupils registered and joined Primary One seven years back but surprisingly only nine thousand pupils sat for PLE this year. Most of those that did not continue to complete could have dropped out of school due to teenage pregnancies.”

Kyateka called for tough action against perpetrators. “Any person who impregnates a teenager should be dealt with as a murderer,” he said.

He urged parents to go beyond mothering and fathering and actually do parenting.

“Get close to your children, take them through stages of development and challenges at every stage of growth,” Kyateka advised.

According to experts at the cafe, the main drivers include early marriages, poverty and exploitation and information gaps.

Uganda ranks high globally for child marriage rates, which heavily fuel early childbearing. Financial vulnerability often leaves girls exposed to transactional relationships or forced compromises for basic necessities like sanitary pads and school fees.

High unmet need for modern contraception among adolescents and a lack of open communication or comprehensive sexuality education compound the issue.

Families of teenage mothers face steep financial pressures. Studies on the “cost of inaction” estimate that household healthcare and educational support for teenage mothers and their children cost hundreds of billions of shillings annually.

Most teenage mothers end up trapped in low-paying or subsistence agriculture, with nearly half working as peasants, rather than professional careers, perpetuating cycles of poverty.

According to national data from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics and UNFPA Uganda:

Teso Sub-region was ranked in the first position contributing 31% ,highest in the country, Tooro Sub-region 30%, North-Central Sub-region: 30%,Bunyoro Sub-region 29%, while Eastern / East Central (including Busoga): 30.1% to 31.6%, with districts like Kamuli and Mayuge recording thousands of cases.

Kampala City: 17% – lowest regional rate, though urban poor communities still experience elevated risk. Kigezi Sub-region: 16% – lowest rural-associated rates. Rates spike even higher in refugee settlement areas like Palabek, where rates can exceed 30% to 41%.

As the country grapples with the figures, officials at the Media Cafe agreed on one thing: unless parents, schools, health workers, and government act together, Uganda will continue to lose a generation of girls to early motherhood.