Bengaluru: The health department has ordered a mandatory audit of adolescent pregnancies among girls, aged 10-18 years, across the state. The audit will be conducted through the existing public health system to enable early identification of such pregnancies and to provide counselling and preventive interventions through convergence with allied departments.
Taluk health officers (THOs) have been tasked with conducting audits of every identified adolescent pregnancy. They will also chair audit committees comprising medical officers, health inspectors, Asha supervisors, anganwadi supervisors and school representatives, where applicable, to work at the field level.
As per the directive, all govt and private healthcare facilities must report adolescent pregnancies on the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) platform. The audit will assess key aspects including age at marriage, educational status, awareness of reproductive health, access to contraception, socio-economic conditions and linkages with programmes such as Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK), Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and school health initiatives.
The govt has also outlined follow-up measures, including counselling through Sneha centres, provision of contraceptive services, identification of vulnerable adolescent girls and counselling for medical termination of pregnancy where required.
District health officers and state-level officials will monitor the audit process and classify cases as preventable or non-preventable, while also submitting recommendations for corrective action. Deputy commissioners at the district level and national health mission (NHM) officials at the state level will conduct periodic reviews.
The order emphasises strict confidentiality and adherence to child protection laws and will be implemented within existing NHM and RKSK budgets, without additional financial burden on the state.
