Evaluation of prenatal control programs offered to teenagers in Valle de Aburrá, Colombia, 2003

Abstract

Objective : this investigation had the aim of identifying and evaluating the prenatal control programs offered to teenagers in the Aburrá Valley region of Colombia in 2003. Methodology: through various sources a list was compiled which included all the health institutions in the Aburrá Valley region. The institutions which offered exclusive teenage prenatal control were identified by telephone and a questionnaire was applied to them with the purpose of knowing if they met the international standards described in relevant sources as being essential in a teenage prenatal control program. Results: in only one of the 101 health institutions a prenatal control was offered exclusively to teenagers. However, according to the responses given to the questionnaire, the prenatal control offered by this institution did not meet the characteristics of a teenage prenatal control program. Although in Colombia teenage pregnancy is a public health problem, programs of prenatal control for teenagers are still not being implemented as a part of its prevention. Doubtless, they must be considered as one of the strategies for solving this problem.