Minister asks parents to guide adolescents

The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr. Eric Opoku, has craved parents' indulgence to providing the necessary support to their adolescent children to enable them make informed decisions; which could enable them have access to the right information and education.

That, according to Mr. Opoku, could result in adolescents making better choices- which may prevent them from engaging in premarital sex and unprepared relationships with the opposite gender. This situation could lead to unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions -which constitute a major threat to their lives.

He made the observations in an address at the launch of Ghana Adolescent Reproductive Health (GHARH) Programme held in Sunyani.

The programme is funded by the government, UKaid and Future Group Europe. Adolescent school children from selected schools in the region attended the launch to enable them understand how to live well and safely in the period of transition from young people to adulthood. The successful implementation of the programme would contribute to the improvement of the quality of lives of adolescents in the region so that they can contribute their quota to national development.

The Minister therefore underscored the importance of educating the youth who are the future leaders of Ghana on how to position themselves to succumb challenges. He said it was the collective responsibility of all stakeholders to ensure that adolescents adopt the right values in society to avert them from becoming deviants. He stated that the entire society must be blamed when they fail to prepare adolescents to lead responsible and disciplined.

Mr. Opoku expressed the gratitude of the government, chiefs and people of the region to the United Kingdom government for supporting Ghana to implement the programme. He assured that Regional Co-ordinating Council, in collaboration with other stakeholders, would make sure that the programme would be completed successfully to pave way for it to be replicated in other regions.

The Minister of State in charge of Social and Allied Agencies at the Office of the President, Hon. Doyoe Cudjoe Ghansah, said the government would strengthen the capacity of the workers to manage and implement the multi-sectoral programme -in order to scale up cost-effective adolescent reproductive health intervention in the country. Hon. Ghansah said the programme would also contribute to the improvement of maternal health and adolescent reproductive health, and accelerate the country's progress towards achieving Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG 5).

She said the government was collaborating with the National Population Council and various stakeholders to revise the adolescent reproductive health policy. The reviewed policy, she noted, would provide the framework through which government and stakeholders could work to meet the reproductive health needs of the adolescents.

She commended the Ghana Health Service for developing the strategic plan for adolescents and young people. The plan which spans from 2009 to 2015 is aimed at promoting the health and development of adolescents through the provision of quality health care and access to appropriate information.