"The Era of Sexual and Reproductive Health: Adolescent and Youth"
“We have the means and the knowledge to achieve universal sexual and reproductive health and rights. Meaningful progress is possible, it is affordable and it is vital.” – Ann M. Starrs
It is a general understanding that an individual from 10-19 are adolescents and 10-24 are youth. It is an evident fact that this is a transitional phase from childhood to adulthood; the change relies on the way they think, their body, and the way they relate to others. Of course, these young people are the future’s parents, so the reproductive and sexual decisions they make today will surely affect their health and well-being of tomorrows.
Similarly, adolescents and youth have a sense of unlimited power, a feeling of invulnerability, and impulsiveness that lead them to reckless behavior. They have the ability to think concretely, so they begin to analyze the situation logically in terms of cause and effect, but due to an internal conflict between energy and belief, they engage in law-breaking activities. This makes them more vulnerable to reproductive health problems.
Basically, most countries only focus on reducing mortality and morbidity and rarely focus on young people's health. They have less access to information, services, and resources than older people. It is important to comprehend that adolescent health problems can be passed down from one generation to the next.
Although various interventions are designed and applied to address the issues, they still cannot meet the needs of young people, and we all feel sorry for them. We hear of the death of a young mother, and we feel sorry for them. We see a picture of a stunted baby, and we feel sorry for them. Of course, over time, we have evolved reproductive rights for adolescents and young people. Yet our small steps don’t cover the devastating gap in sexual and reproductive health among adolescents and youth. So, we can take an inescapable step today and choose a more sustainable aspect of gap-filling interventions.
