Youth advised against unprotected sex

Over 500 youth, parents, teachers and community members have come together to deliberate on adolescent sexual and reproductive health issues in the Gomoa Traditional Area in the Central Region.

The move became necessary as young girls between the ages of 10 and 17 engaged in unprotected sex leading to high incidences of teenage pregnancy in the area.

The youth forum, which was organised by HealthKeepers Network (HKN), an Accra-based NGO, and sponsored by USAID, in collaboration with the Gomoa West District Education and the District Health Directorates, was aimed at educating the youth, community members and traditional leaders on the need for the youth to abstain from unprotected sex.

The HKN’s adolescent reproductive health programme aims at promoting knowledge and understanding of adolescent needs for Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) information and contraception among adolescents, parents, influential community leaders and other stakeholders, promoting behavioural change and safer sexual practices and increasing access to contraceptives among young people through various outlets in the communities.

‘Curfew’ for teenagers

The Odikro of the Gomoa Traditional Area, Nana Edu Effrim X, in an address said the pride of the Central Region which used to be education had now been overtaken by the rise in teenage pregnancy; “a shameful situation which is of great concern to the chiefs and elders in the area”.

He said as part of moves to curb the high rate of teenage pregnancy, the chiefs and elders in the area would ensure that teenagers below 18 years stayed indoors during the evenings.

The move, according to the Odikro, would help salvage the situation where children between the ages of 10 and 17 engaged in early, unprotected and unwanted sexual activity as a result of inadequate parental supervision, particularly in the night.

The Executive Director of HKN, Mr Daniel E. Mensah, said the organisation, realising that sexual and reproductive health was important to the development of the youth into adulthood, organised the outreach in the district to educate and improve the knowledge of the youth on their reproductive health rights so as to prevent unwanted pregnancies, teenage pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and loss of lives through unsafe abortion practices.

He commended the Chiefs and Elders of the Gomoa Traditional Area, the District Health Management team and the district assembly for not only embracing the programme, but coming out in their numbers to support it.

“HKN’s adolescent reproductive health programme, with USAID funding and support, would be sustained in the Gomoa District and extended to other districts in the Central Region and other parts of the country in phases," he said.

He said, as part of efforts to help address the current situation in the area, the HKN introduced its youth-centred programme known as the Youth link Up Programme in the area when concerns about the alarming rate of teenage pregnancy were raised by the chiefs and elders at a family planning and HIV prevention outreach organised by the NGO earlier this year.

High incidence of teenage pregnancy

The District Director of Health Services for Gomoa West, Dr Luiz Amoussou, in an address said the 2014 Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) revealed that teenagers in the Central Region started child bearing earlier than other teenagers.

Although still high, he said the number of teenage pregnancies recorded in the area had been reducing gradually over the past three years, from 910 in 2013 to 760 in 2014 and 313 from January to May this year.

Dr Amoussou commended HealthKeepers Network for implementing adolescent reproductive health interventions and family planning and HIV prevention programmes in the area and said it was a laudable contribution towards curbing the situation.

Future goals

The Odikro of Gomoa Akyempim, Nana Kofi Asanhoma V, in an address stressed the need for teenagers to focus on their future goals rather than emulating the behaviour of bad friends.

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Mr Theophilus Aidoo-Mensah, also commended HealthKeepers Network and called on parents to provide the necessary support to motivate schoolchildren to study hard.

The District Director of Education, Mr Peter Amankrah, also admonished the youth to desist from emulating unscrupulous behaviour from friends and urged parents to give their children the necessary support towards achieving their academic goals.

A Public Health Nurse, Ms Naomi Lomoko, who took the children through how they could abstain from early sexual activities, urged them to indulge in activities such as games, reading, helping with household chores, among others, to help keep themselves busy.