Samira Fights Rising Teenage Pregnancy Cases

Second Lady Samira Bawumia has expressed gross worry over the increasing teenage pregnancy cases in the country, mentioning that the situation endangers the lives of the teenage mothers and their children.

Giving statistics to buttress her claim, she disclosed that the Ghana Health Service (GHS) statistics indicate that 359 teenage pregnancies were recorded in the Ashanti Region alone in 2016.

According to Samira Bawumia, 323 of the teenage pregnancies involved minors, saying, “This means that children between the ages of 11 to 17 years are giving birth too soon, which is bad”.

The second lady has consequently appealed passionately to all and sundry, including traditional leaders, religious leaders, teachers, parents and opinion leaders, to play key roles to help stop teenage pregnancies.

She was speaking during the launch of the 'Adolescent Reproductive Health Week' in Kumasi under the theme: 'Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy- A Shared Responsibility'.

Samira Bawumia stated that people experience both physical and psychological changes in their lives when they reach adolescence, stressing the need for adolescents to be given special attention and guidance.

According to her, teenage pregnancy has the tendency of leading the victim to drop out from school, adding that the GHS alone cannot work to reduce teenage pregnancies, so all must come on board.

The second lady observed that sexual violence, teenage pregnancy, child abuse, limited access to healthcare and sexual abuse, remain some of the threats that the adolescents face, calling for ways to address these issues.

The Director General of Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, said that the GHS now boasts of mobile applications, both for service providers and adolescents, to improve knowledge on sexual and reproductive health issues.

He expressed the GHS' gratitude to the UK government, via the Palladium Group, for its support for the programme, adding that government remains committed to actively supporting people who have attained adolescence in the country.

 FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi