Teenage pregnancy reduces in Central Region

Dr William Bosu, Acting Central Regional Director of Health Services on Thursday announced that the incidence of teenage pregnancy in the region has dropped from 33 per cent in 1993 to 20 per cent this year.

He said this has become possible as a result of an intensive education programme embarked on jointly by the Regional Health Directorate and the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG).

Dr Bosu announced this at a 'Regional Youth Durbar' organised by the African Youth Alliance (AYA) to educate the youth on reproductive health issues at Cape Coast.

The AYA, is an non-governmental organisation (NGO), committed to the reduction in the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases among the youth and the overall improvement of adolescent reproductive health.

He said for instance, whereas health institutions in the Municipality recorded 22 cases of such pregnancies between January and September last year, only nine was recorded within the same period this year.

The Acting Director expressed regretted the use of modern contraception methods, which he said was still very low, with only 10 per cent of people in the reproductive age group and about 17 per cent of women were practicing family planning in the region.

He said Directorate plans to increase the percentage to about 30 per cent by the end of the year and mentioned people's attitude to sex, poverty and religious beliefs as the major factors hampering effective health education in the country.

The Regional Minister, Mr Isaac Edumadze, in a speech read for him, expressed regret that in spite of the upsurge in the HIV/AIDS pandemic, most reproductive health programmes worldwide, focused on meeting the demands of matured population.

He, therefore, commended AYA for organising the durbar stressing that there was a growing consensus that the adolescents urgently need expanded access to appropriate information, life saving training and leadership programmes within a culturally acceptable setting.

Mr Edumadze called on the Alliance and other youth development-oriented organisations to assist the Ministry of Youth and Sports in shaping an effective National Youth Policy.

Dr Robert Mensah, Country Co-ordinator of AYA, said the Alliance was operating in four African countries - Ghana, Botswana, Tanzania and Uganda.