B/A youth receive services from Adolescent Health Corners
Fifty-four adolescent health corners have been established throughout the Brong Ahafo Region as part of support to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to ensure the successful implementation of the Ghana Adolescent Reproductive Health (GHARH) Project in the region.
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The 27 municipalities and districts in the region have two adolescent health corners each that provide counselling and other services to young people in the region.
The adolescent health corners have special opening hours, dedicated staff and materials on reproductive and sexual health tailor-made for young men and women and dedicated facilities owned and managed by the GHS.
Funding
An international non-governmental organisation, Palladium, formerly Futures Group, with funding from the Department for International Development (DFID), supported the establishment of the adolescent health corners to provide vital services to the young people in the region.
About 51,426 adolescents in the region have been helped through the adolescent health corners to access adolescent-friendly sexual reproductive health services and information since the launch of the GHARH project in the region about two years ago.
The project has also trained 6,245 health and education workers, as well as monitoring and evaluation officers to enhance their capacity to deliver components of adolescent-friendly health services.
It has also assisted 288,782 individuals to learn more about adolescent sexual reproductive health in the region and supported public and private stakeholders to plan, manage, implement and monitor reproductive health programmes.
Parental responsibility
At a ceremony to hand over one of the adolescent health corners at Acherensua in the Asutifi South District, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Ebenezer Appiah Denkyira, said the opening of the adolescent health corners did not mean parents should shirk their responsibility of helping their children to exhibit good behaviour.
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He said parents should be mindful of the growth of their children and send them to the adolescent health corners for advice, adding “It is very important that we monitor every child and educate them”.
Dr Appiah Denkyira also said the youth were the future of the country so there was the need to protect and educate them to understand the changes that occurred in their lives.
He suggested the setting up of an oversight committee chaired by the queenmother to ensure the proper management and maintenance of the facility.
Necessary support
The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Justice Samuel Adjei, noted that the inability to provide the necessary support that would enable the adolescents make informed decisions could result in most of them not having access to the right information and education.
That situation, he said, could result in the youth making poor choices, which could lead to their engagement in premature relationships with their peers that could also result in unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions.
Unfortunately, he added, majority of adolescents in the country lacked access to appropriate and adequate information on reproductive health care and education that would enable them manage their health and development.
The Head of the DFID in Ghana, Mr Jim McAlpine, said everyone had a role to play in supporting young people to make informed decisions with regard to their reproductive and sexual health.
He commended all health professionals, political leaders, chiefs, queenmothers and religious leaders for their strong support to young people in the region, adding, “l have no doubt that the services will be transformational in shaping the lives of many adolescents in the region and l am confident other regions will follow Brong Ahafo’s lead.”
Paramount chief
The Paramount Chief for the Acherensua Traditional Area, Professor Nana Agyewodin Adu Gyamfi Ampem, advised the youth to be patient since patience was a very important virtue.
He said the people would support the adolescent corner and ensure its proper maintenance to prolong its lifespan.