Reproductive Health of Adolescents in Nepal: A Perspective from Human Development

Reproductive health issues have been very detrimental among the adolescents in Nepal particularly due to the early marriage and early pregnancies. Nepal is one of the countries in South Asia, which has a highest maternal and infant mortality. The root causes of such outcomes can be attributed to the child marriage and early pregnancies along with the other socio-economic factors such as low awareness on reproductive health including the use of family planning methods, absence of accessible health clinics, denial of using pre and post natal care etc. It is especially true among the women in rural areas with limited access to health and education opportunities as well as restricted social and cultural norms.