A Development practitioner, Mr. Gideon Affah is calling for an integrated approach to the fight against teenage pregnancy in the country particularly in rural areas. He says this approach should include training on proper parenting and skills acquisition for teenage girls.
He believes that such an approach will empower teenage girls economically and build their confidence to pursue their life aspirations.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting on the Anti-Teenage Pregnancy Campaign in the Adansi South District Capital, New Edubiase the practitioner admonished policy makers and stakeholders to tighten the fight against the menace since it is currently skyrocketing across the ten regions of Ghana. He expressed worry about global statistics which shows that pregnancy and childbirth complications are the second highest cause of death for girls aged 15 to 19. A total of 18,441 adolescents got pregnant, last year in the Ashanti Region with the Adansi South District recording 644 of the cases. This figure is an increase from 580 cases recorded within the same period in 2015.
The Anti-Teenage Pregnancy Campaign was instituted in 2014 to provide comprehensive education on adolescent reproductive health to rural basic school girls.