Queen-mothers in the Brong-Ahafo Region, on Thursday said availability of family planning services was the remedy to control teenage pregnancy in the Region.
They therefore called on the government to make family planning services readily available and accessible to young boys and girls in the Region without impediments.
They noted that teenage pregnancies were rife in the Region because young girls always felt shy to access family planning services due to societal myths associated with it.
The queen mothers, selected from the Sunyani and Dormaa Municipalities, Dormaa West, Dormaa East, Jaman North, Jaman South, Banda and Pru Districts gave the advice at an orientation workshop in Sunyani.
Hope for Future Generations (HFFG), a non-governmental organisation, organised the workshop to sensitise the participants on the Ghana Adolescent Reproductive Health (GHARH) Project.
The HFFG with support from the Palladium Group, an NGO is implementing the GHARH project in the nine districts, including Atebubu/Amantin District.
Nana Akosua Akomah, the Sompahemaa of Sunyani, expressed regret that pre-marital sex had gradually become a norm in contemporary society.
This situation, she noted, required the availability and accessibility of family planning services, so that teenagers who could not control their sexual desires could use them to protect themselves.
Nana Adwoa Kyeremaa, a queen mother at Nkrankwanta in the Dormaa West District, advised the youth against unprotected sex.
She noted that teenagers would abstain from pre-marital sex and grow to become responsible adults, if parents inculcated in them biblical values and principles in their upbringing and development.
Mrs. Rose A Baalaboore, the Project Coordinator of HFFG, mentioned poor attitude of health providers, stigmatisation and inadequate community support as some of the factors affecting the uptake of sexual reproductive services.
She tasked parents, teachers and policy makers to understand youth-friendly sexual reproductive health services.
This, she observed, would assist in controlling public stigmatisation and motivate many of the sexually active youth to access family planning services.
Madam Roseline Lodonu, the Project Officer of HFFG, explained that the under the GHARH project, reproductive health clubs would be established in school.
Quarterly HIV and STIs screenings would also be organised in the project implementing communities.
