Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract NACNDC/19JASH083 (Poster) | Published: 16 Dec 2025
Nagadya Amanda¹, Babirye Rebecca¹, Mbazira Hassan¹, Joy Eleng², Moureen Muhindo²
¹PACE Uganda, ²European Union – Funder for Breaking the Cycle Project
&Corresponding author: Nagadya Amanda, PACE Uganda, Email: anagadya@pace.org.ug
Received: 26 Sep 2025, Accepted: 20 Oct 2025, Published: 16 Dec 2025
Domain: Adolescent and Reproductive Health
Keywords: Prevention of teenage pregnancy, SRHR, school reintegration
©Nagadya Amanda et al., Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Nagadya Amanda et al., Breaking the cycle: Community engagement for the prevention and response to teenage pregnancy in Gulu and Omoro Districts, Uganda. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc6):083. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO6-00083
Introduction: Teenage pregnancy is a major public health challenge in Uganda, contributing to early childbearing, unsafe abortions, interrupted education, and increased vulnerability to preventable diseases including STI and HIV. Understanding adolescent health outcomes is essential to design responsive interventions that integrate disease prevention and elimination. The Breaking the Cycle: Prevention and Response to Teenage Pregnancy baseline study, implemented by PACE with support from the European Union, was conducted in Gulu and Omoro to generate benchmark data on SRHR access, education reintegration, and community support for adolescents aged 10-19 years.
A total of 468 adolescents were randomly sampled using Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS): 235 from Omoro (Bobi, Akidi, Labora, Palenga) and 233 from Gulu (Bungatira, Patiko, Uyama, Omel). The qualitative component included 22 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with district officials and community leaders. Objectives were to: (1) assess SRHR service access and utilization, (2) examine education reintegration for adolescent mothers, (3) identify community influencers shaping SRHR outcomes, and (4) explore barriers to adolescent wellbeing and educational continuation.
Overall, 52% of adolescents reported ever being pregnant. Among in-school girls, 3.8% in Gulu and 25.8% in Omoro reported pregnancy, versus 76–100% among dropouts. Most first pregnancies occurred at 16–18 years (68%), with 29% at 17. Comprehensive sexuality education coverage was 55.9%. Paternal support was weak (19%), and access to counselling (22%) and legal aid (3.5%) was scarce. KIIs indicated that while institutions recognize their SRHR role, programming is fragmented, underfunded, and poorly coordinated; school-based education is inconsistent, and boys’ engagement is minimal.
Community-driven, multi-sectoral interventions are urgently needed to prevent teenage pregnancy and promote disease prevention. Priorities include expanding CSE for 13–15-year-olds, promoting school retention and re-entry, scaling up youth-friendly SRHR services, and building integrated support systems. Engaging boys, parents, leaders, peers, and institutional actors is essential for strengthening adolescent health outcomes.
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