Fertility Rate Goes Down

The total fertility rate in Ghana has decreased from 6.4 children per woman in 1988 to 5.5 children per woman in 1993 writes Rosemary Ardayfio of the Daily Graphic. With this decrease, Ghana now has one of the lowest fertility rates in West Africa.

The Ghana Statistical Service in 1993 carried out a Demographic and Health survey which came out with the findings. A total of 4562 women and 1302 were interviewed during the survey which was funded by the family Planning and Health Project of the USAID. Other findings of the survey include a percent increase in contraceptive use from 13% in 1988 to 20% of married women in 1993. The percentage of fully immunised children under five have risen from 31 % to 55 % within the same period while under five mortality has declined from 155 to 119 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Daasebre Oti Boateng, the Government Statistician who presented the report of the survey said the survey shows that the potential demand for family planning is rising. Four out of every 10 married women have unmet needs for family planning services, thus extending family planning education and services to the rural areas and to uneducated women is certainly a promising avenue for increasing contraceptive prevalence.