Teach Young People to Use Contraceptives-Minister

The Minister of Health, Ms. Sherry Ayittey has called for the education of the youth on family planning and the use of contraceptives.

She said the world population profile indicated that more than half of the people are under the age of 25, yet “it is a taboo in our society to hear young people talk about family planning and contraception”.

She therefore called on the Ghana Education Service to include reproductive health lessons into the curricula of schools to ensure continues education and awareness creation among young people on their reproductive health issues.

“It is important to prioritize and scale-up youth sexual reproductive health programmes; including a comprehensive sexuality education that teaches young people about their rights  and options to ensure that young women to have access to a range of contraceptive methods”.

Ms. Ayittey made the call at the formal launch of this year’s National Family Planning week in Ho on Wednesday on the theme ““Your future, your choice, your contraception, Act Now!”.

The Director General of the Ghana Health service, Dr. Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyirah, said the nation’s population must grow in tandem with its resources and noted that national family week celebration is meant to provide education on the need for couples to plan their family.

Dr Appiah-Denkyira called on communities to select nurses at their Community-Based Health Planning Services compounds to educate the people on “how to grow”.

He also asked traditional and religious leaders to join the fray to get the youth informed on reproductive health to enable them make the right choices.

Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo, Volta Regional Minister said the Volta region in the first half of 2013, had 35 maternal mortality cases and over fifteen percent of all anti-natal attendance were teenagers. He therefore called for the usage of family planning methods to curb the situation.