GhanaHealthNews

Kassena-Nankana West District records marginal reduction in teenage pregnancies

Data from the district health shows that the district has recorded a 15% decrease in cases between January to June of 2023, against an alarming high of 17.4% in the last quarter of 2022

The Kassena-Nankana West District in the Upper East Region has recorded a marginal decline in teenage pregnancy cases in the first quarter of 2023, according to data from the district’s health directorate.

The data shows that the district has recorded a 15% decrease in cases between January to June of 2023, against an alarming high of 17.4% in the last quarter of 2022.

According to the data, aside from two sub districts – Kayoro and Paga central – the rest of the seven sub districts that make up the area have performed well as far as tackling the menace is concerned.

Francis Adipare, the district’s public health nurse, said although the reduction was commendable, the district was pushing to further beat down the prevalence to its target of 11%.

Adipare gave the figures at a stakeholder engagement organized in Paga by Investing in Girls Education in Africa (IGEA), a non-governmental organization.

“As an average, we are doing quite well, but most of them [sub districts] have still not done below the target of 11%. We want to see that all pregnant women that are coming to our facilities for antenatal health care, we have less than 11% of them between the ages of adolescence,” he said.

In areas which were yet to see a decline, Adipare explained that factors including poor parenting, child marriages, substance abuse and entertainment events, were to blame for the surge in cases. Another notable contributory factor, he noted, was the unavailability of contraceptive services in rural communities for sexually active adolescents.

He explained that whereas policymakers do not see the need to make contraceptives services available to adolescents, some adolescents are busily engaging in sexual acts which eventually result in pregnancies.

“The use of contraceptive services as well is also another issue. We [policy makers] are playing the ostrich. We don’t want them to use the contraceptive services, but we know they are having sex and those sex acts lead to pregnancies,”

To address the surge in teenage pregnancy cases in communities, Adipare said there was the need for measures to be put in place. He, first and foremost, called for close collaborations between the health and education sectors to champion adolescent health education in schools particularly in rural communities. He explained that such education would help expose the consequences of promiscuous lifestyles to adolescents and also arm them with knowledge on where to access adolescent-friendly health services.

Adipare also suggested the relook of the part of the law which gave power to teen girls of sixteen years to consent to sex. He noted that some of the cases encountered point to the fact that men were using such consent to take advantage of young girls. He said when pregnancies come as a result of that, the appropriate authorities are unable to punish such men because they have somewhat the backing of the law.

IGEA

For his part, the director of IGEA, Rusmond Anyinah, said the organisation which was born to champion the cause of young girls would continue to work to bring parity between them and their male counterparts in the areas of education, health and opportunities. He said the organization particularly focuses on young girls in rural communities where access to good education, health services and opportunities is limited.

Anyinah said, for instance, that one of the many key interventions rolled out by the organization is the distribution of alternative sanitary pads to young girls in rural communities, where young girls are unable to afford them due to high cost. He noted that the distribution of the sanitary pads was to ensure that young girls were able to have stress-free menstrual periods so that they do not miss teaching and learning activities in schools.

To sustain the alternative sanitary pad initiative, Anyinah said IGEA has invested in the training of 12 women situated across different parts of the Upper East Region who design and produce the sanitary pads using safe, biodegradable material. He said since the implementation of the support initiative, IGEA has been able to supply the sanitary pad to over 700 young girls, adding that the reception of the pad as an alternative to the disposable ones has so far been encouraging.

While Anyinah calls on the government to drop the exorbitant tax charges on disposable sanitary pads to make them accessible and soften the burden on parents and guardians, he also stressed the need for stakeholders in sectors such as the health, education, law enforcement, women’s groups, among others, to commit themselves thoroughly to the development and empowerment of young girls. He stressed that such concerted efforts would help young girls grow to achieve their dreams and contribute meaningfully to society.

The IGEA stakeholder engagement was held to review activities of the previous fiscal year and also to plan towards the implementation of future activities.

Reportinng by Senyalah Castro in the Upper East Region

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