East Akim women refuse to use female condoms

Kyebi(E/R), Jan 28, GNA- Young women in the East Akim District are not patronizing female condoms because they claimed it was too big and some also feared it could enter their body through their sexual organ. The East Akim District Co-ordinator of the National Youth Council(NYC), Mr George Amuzu, said this at the 2004 Performance Review Meeting of the District Health Directorate at Kyebi on Thursday.

He said in 2004 his outfit sold 321 female condoms and 32,055 male condoms to the youth between the ages of 10 and 24 years under the African Youth Alliance(AYA) Challenge Cup Project.

USAID is sponsoring the project that uses football as a means of promoting adolescence reproductive health and the reduction of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) including HIV/AIDS.

Mr Amuzu said the project would be ending this year and his outfit is working towards its sustainability by promoting community ownership and its inclusion in the mainstream activities of the NYC.

He said his outfit is also holding discussions with the district assembly and non-governmental organizations to sponsor it.

Dr Isaac Richard Osabutey, the Principal Medical Officer of Kyebi Government Hospital, called for the stepping up of advocacy for the youth to abstain from pre-marital sex.

He said for the first quarter of 2004, out of the 25 Caesarean sessions conducted at the hospital, 18 of them were for young women who were below 18 years because their pelvic bones were not well developed for them to be able to deliver safely.

Mrs Eunice Abuaku, the District Director of Health Service, said the district recorded a decrease in maternal deaths from 13 in 2003 to 9 during the year under review.

She said during the period under review, 217 out of 330 patients in the district who were screened for HIV/AIDS tested positive while 55 out of 237 blood donors also tested HIV/AIDS positive. Mrs Abuaku said the district was able to improve upon the rate of cure for tuberculosis from 53 per cent in 2003 to 60 per cent in 2004.