By ALICE NACHILEMBE
Latkings Outreach Program (LOP) DREAMS girls have demanded for more Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) information and services.
The girls demand comes after the Latkings DREAMS girls Chingola District Ambassador Elgah Katati sighted the increase in teenage pregnancy that the ministry of general education has recorded in the past five years from grades 1 to 12.
Ms Katati a grade eleven pupil at Chikola secondary school said that the statistics has worried the LOP DREAMS girls, hence their cry for improved Sexual Reproductive Health Right and Services.
“Latkings has been providing us with sexual reproductive health information and service but we demand for more of these services so that we can have a massive reduction in the number of new HIV infections and unplanned pregnancies that leads Adolescent Girls and Young Women drop out of school. She said.
She said this during the School Health Day provision organized by Latkings that took place at Nchanga Secondary School in Chingola.
She advised her fellow pupils to abstain from sex and for the sexually active girls to access SRHS responsibly.
Latkings Chingola Representative Ruth Mutaneko in addressing the assembly told the girls and boys to be determined no matter what they have gone through.
Ms Mutaneko said that Latkings is concerned about the well-being of adolescents hence the provision of SRHS both in schools and the community.
She said that this is so in order to help put an end to new HIV infections and unplanned pregnancies in Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW).
Sibongile Zulu Nchanga Secondary School DREAMS Champion encouraged her fellow girls to utilize the knowledge that Latkings gives them through club sessions and share the same information with other girls.
Ms Zulu said AIDS is preventable if those who are negative live responsibly and maintain their status and vice versa those who are positive to adhere to medication.
Chingola District Education Board Secretary (DEBs) Christopher Sinkamba was happy with LOP services on SRH making it easy for girls to access.
Mr Sinkamba has urged the girls to utilize the knowledge acquired hence girls to lead responsible lives with this knowledge to enhance their future.
