Teen pregnancies in Assin South dip

The Assin South District has seen a dramatic reduction in teen pregnancies recording 405 cases in 2020, against 511 cases in 2019.

The figure indicates a drop of 106 cases, representing a 2.0 per cent reduction.

This was disclosed by Mrs Elizabeth Wood, the Assin South District Director of Health.

She said through the Ghana Education Service (GES) in conjunction with the Girl Child Education Clubs in schools, the students were educated on the causes, effects, and prevention of teen pregnancies.

In addition, she said a lot of advocacy campaigns on adolescent pregnancy were conducted in prone communities.

Furthermore, the Directorate organized some boys and girls' engagement on Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) across the Area, she said.

Through the combined efforts of Traditional Leaders in some communities, a law to that effect was enacted to ban all school-going children from going out around 19:00 hours and in other communities 20:00 hours, and this Mrs Wood, hinted, had helped the situation.

The Health Director said some Non-Governmental Organizations also supported the fight against teenage pregnancy, notably among them are International Needs, Purim African Youth Development Platform (PAYDP), and Theatre for Social Change (TFSC).

The rests are Savannah Signatures, United Nations Fund for Population Activities,(UNFPA), and Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.

Mrs Wood identified among others poverty, lack of parental care, peer pressure, and lack of sex education accounted for teen pregnancies in the district.

She expressed gratitude to the Guidance and Counselling Units of Health Centres in the Area, for counseling pregnant teens against criminal abortions or feeling shameful, but to accept it as part of life and continue their education if they so wish to after delivery.

"Do not accept any concoctions to terminate a pregnancy because it will endanger your lives as well as that of the unborn child", Mrs Wood counseled.

She advised parents and guardians to continue educating their children against pre-marital sex and its attendant early pregnancies to rid Assinman of the canker.