According to Unwanted
Fertility in South Africa , a recently published report from Statistics
South Africa, “about 20% of all births in the five years preceding the 2016
Demographic and Health Survey (including pregnancies at the time),
happened when women were not planning on having any more children”.
The report,
based on demographic health data from 1998 and 2016, shows an increase in the
percentage of unwanted births from 17.3% in 1998 to 20.4% in 2016.
Various forms of temporary contraception
are already available in the public sector in South Africa – including condoms
and birth control pills, intra-uterine devices and contraceptive implants for
women - although availability of these various options varies between
According to
Unwanted Fertility in South Africa, a recently published report from Statistics South Africa, “about 20% of all births in the five years preceding the 2016 Demographic and Health Survey (including pregnancies at the time), happened when women were not planning on having any more children”. The report shows an increase in unwanted births from 17.3% in 1998 to 20.4% in 2016.
The public sector offers various forms of temporary contraception – including condoms and birth control pills, intrauterine devices and contraceptive implants for women – although availability varies between healthcare facilities. There are no registered contraceptive pills or implants for men, but research is ongoing.
There are more permanent options such as female and male sterilisation – the latter in the form of vasectomy. According to a
We don t want babies named Valentine or Mistakes Happen in nine months, says KZN health MEC MEC Nomagugu Simelane urged young people to be safe this Valentine s Day 14 February 2021 - 11:10 KZN health MEC Nomagugu Simelane has urged young couples to practise safe sex on Valentine s Day to avoid unplanned pregnancies Image: 123RF/Andrey Kiselev
KwaZulu-Natal health MEC Nomagugu Simelane on Sunday urged young “amorous couples” to practise safe sex to avoid regrets which included scrambling for morning-after pills and contracting a sexually transmitted disease.
The MEC was using Valentine s Day to appeal to young men and women to protect themselves when engaging in sexual activity.