Teen pregnancy reduces in Tema
An intense public education campaign by the Ghana Health Service in the Tema Metropolis has resulted in the reduction of teenage pregnancy cases in the area.
Between January and September last year for instance, a total of 475 adolescents got pregnant compared to the 568 cases during the same period in 2016.
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The Tema Metropolitan Director of Health Services, Dr John B.K Yabani, who disclosed this at the Adolescent Health Advocacy Week in Tema recently, said in spite of the improvement in adolescent pregnancy within the metropolis, more work needed to be done to substantially reduce cases of pregnancy among young people to ensure that every adolescent girl was healthy to be nurtured into a responsible adult.
The theme for the Adolescent Health Advocacy week celebration was: ‘Reducing Adolescent Pregnancy: A Shared Responsibility’.
The programme was organised by the Regional Health Directorate with support from the Petroleum Ladies Association, Rotary Club of Tema, Meridian, the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) and the Assembly Member for the Kwesi Plange Electoral Area, Mr Alhassan Issah.
The Tema Metropolitan Adolescent Health Focal Person, Mrs Grace Eddy Amewu called for increased support and resources to the health sector to enable her outfit increase access to adolescent health information.
As part of the activities marking the National Adolescent Health Advocacy Week, An Adolescent Health Club for the Kwesi Plange Electoral Area was inaugurated. Members of the club are to serve as health ambassadors to promote and share information with their peers.
Mr Issah commended the Ghana Health Service for the formation of the adolescent health club in the community, stressing that it would go a long way to make the youth aware of the needed information and also improve access to adolescent sexual reproductive health services.
The Director of Social Welfare at the TMA, Mrs Matilda Mahama commended the health directorate for establishing community adolescent health clubs for young people.
The Tema Metropolitan Health Directorate, with support from the Rotary Club, Tema Meridian and the Petroleum Ladies Association, provided free dental services to the adolescents and registered them free of charge onto the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).