Adansi South District records high teenage pregnancies
The Adansi South District recorded a total of 640 cases of teenage pregnancy in 2016 as against 580 in 2015.
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The District Public Nurse, Mrs Abigail Ababio, has, therefore, expressed worry at the increasing number of teenage pregnancies in the district.
Mrs Ababio was speaking at a stakeholders’ forum organised by the Youth Alliance for Development (YAD), a local anti-teenage pregnancy non-governmental organisation (NGO), to adopt an integrated approach in fighting the teenage pregnancy menace in the district.
Trend
At the regional level the trend changed as statistics indicated that the cases were dropping.
A total of 18,441 adolescents got pregnant last year as compared to 19,416 in 2015 and 20,395 for 2014.
She said over the past two years, the cases of teenage pregnancy recorded in the district had risen.
She added that every day, a girl under 18 gave birth in the district, a situation she described as very worrisome since most of the teenage mothers were unemployed and unable to cater for their children.
The problem, she said, was contributing to the vicious cycle of poverty in the area.
She attributed the rise in teenage pregnancy in the district to the low levels of education on sexuality and appealed to parents and teachers to take the children through sex education and the need to abstain or protect themselves to avoid getting pregnant.
YAD
The Chief Executive of YAD, Mr Robert Ali Tanti, appealed to the government to make special provisions for vulnerable children, particularly teenage mothers who were willing to return to school under the free Senior High School (SHS) policy.
He said using the performance of pupils at the Basic Education certificate Examination (BECE) alone would deny such children the opportunity of accessing secondary education.
He further appealed to the Ghana Education Service (GES) to create a conducive environment and provide a support system for teenage mothers who would like to return to school.
The forum was attended by teachers, health workers, security personnel and students from the district.