Lack Of Sex Education Major Cause Of Teenage Pregnancy
Lack of sex education in schools has been identified as a major contributory factor to the high rate of teenage pregnancy and unsafe abortion in the country.
According to statistics from the Brong-Ahafo Regional Health Directorate, from January to June this year about 235 girls between the ages of 10 to 14 came to antenatal clinic, whilst six thousand and 84 late teens between the ages of 15 to 19 years within the same periods patronized the antenatal clinic.
Mrs. Martha Agyemfra of the Brong-Ahafo Regional Office of Ghana Health Service made this known at a day's strategic workshop on adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights education in Sunyani.
The event was organized by the Brong-Ahafo Chapter of the Coalition of NGOs in Health on the theme: 'Effective Implementation of Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Education in Schools.
In attendance were School Health Education Programme Co-ordinators, Counseling and Guidance Officers from selected schools, Civil Society organizations and officials from the Sunyani Municipal and Sunyani West District Health Directorates.
Mrs. Agyemfra bemoaned about a situation where school authorities do not allow sex education in their schools. According to her, the surest way to help reduce the ever increasing unsafe abortion and teenage pregnancy in the country is to intensively public education on sexual and reproductive health among the people especially the adolescents.
She noted that High maternal mortality rates and the lack of progress in reducing maternal deaths in Ghana are worrisome top government and health workers and other stakeholders in the health sector.
She said government has identified and prioritized the bottlenecks to effective implementation of the most important interventions to reduce maternal deaths and proposed solutions for accelerating progress on achieving the MDG5.
Mrs Agyemfra pointed out that additional investment focusing on skilled attendance at birth, emergency obstetric care and family planning would accelerate Ghana's move towards achieving MDG5 and also contribute significantly to the attainment of MDG 4 target.
She therefore called for effective collaboration between CSOs, Ghana Education Service and Ghana Health Service to help curb the ever increasing teenage pregnancy and unsafe abortion in the country.
Participants at the workshop called for stiffer punishment for men who pregnant teenagers to serve as deterrent to others. According to them, if stringent measures are not put in place to deal with such men effort of CSOs and other stakeholders in fighting against teenage pregnancy will a mirage.