PAHEF is a key partner in Teen Pregnancy Prevention Day (Día de la Prevención del Embarazo no Planificado en Adolescentes), which will be celebrated throughout Latin America as well as worldwide on September 26th. The theme of this year’s campaign is “Tu vida, Tu responsabilidad” (Your life, Your responsibility). The campaign will provide a space where young people can express their opinions about their responsibilities in relation to preventing pregnancy and avoiding sexually transmitted diseases. 

Statistics in the Region

Annually in Latin America, there are 54,000 births to mothers younger than 15 years-old and two million births are to young women aged 15 to 19. In the region overall, it is estimated that 40% of pregnancies are unplanned, which highlights a grave need for information about family planning. This is most likely highly correlated to the fact that 44% of young people do not have access to reliable contraception. Furthermore, it is estimated that up to 20% of young people are carrying a sexual transmitted disease. 

Se(x) Tu Mismo

On the campaign’s Web site “Se(x) tu mismo”, youth can respond to a survey and upload to the Web page their videos, comments, ideas, photos, and questions on how they define and interpret their sexual responsibilities and how these impact their decisions and actions. More information for youth also is available at www.tuvidatudecision.com. 

The campaign is a partnership between PAHEF, Bayer, MTV, and Organización Iberoamericana de Juventud.

PAHEF’s Participation

PAHEF, which has a long history of supporting projects to advance health knowledge in the Americas, is proud to contribute its expertise to this campaign. PAHEF supports the creation of the campaign’s educational materials and activities taking place throughout the region.   

Read the press release about this campaign.