Adolescent School Health Clubs launched in B/A

Ghana, last year, recorded 11.7 per cent and 17.2 per cent pregnancies and abortion cases respectively among adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19.

Dr Patrick Aboagye, Director of Family Health Division of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), disclosed this during the Brong-Ahafo Regional launch of the Adolescent School Health (ASH) Clubs at Abesim, near Sunyani.

The event, jointly organised by the GHS and the School Health Education Programme (SHEP) of the Ghana Education Service (GES), was attended by about 300 students and some teachers from 20 Senior High Schools (SHSs) selected from 20 Districts and Municipalities in the Region.

It was sponsored by the Ghana Country Office of GRM Futures Group, an International Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that is into quality health promotion and advocacy on sexual reproductive health.

The occasion aimed at preparing the participating SHSs for a common platform in the launch of the ASH Clubs by those individual institutions in the Region.

Dr Aboagye said most of the sexual reproductive health issues were attributed to misinformation and unavailability of information on Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health in the country.

Adolescent corners had, therefore, been created in some health facilities to provide health services, tailored to the needs of the adolescents/young people, he said.

Dr Aboagye said facilities without the corners used the integrative approach, as service providers in those facilities had been trained to provide youth-friendly services.

Mr. Justice Samuel Adjei, Deputy Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, expressed regret that majority of adolescents in Ghana lacked access to appropriate and adequate information on reproductive health care and education, to assist them in managing their health and development.

Mr. Adjei admitted that the situation was challenging with related high risks for the adolescents, parents, the government and society in general.

It, therefore, required proper management by all stakeholders to inculcate in the youth good moral values to prepare them to take up leadership roles and responsibilities in future, he added.

Mr. David Logan, Team Leader for the GRM Futures Group in Ghana, later told the Ghana News Agency that the Ghana Adolescent Reproductive Health Programme was their major project in the country.

Mr Logan said that was the more reason why it has funded the formation of the ASH Clubs in those selected SHSs, which would be replicated in the remaining SHSs in the region, and ultimately extended to all second cycle institutions nationwide.