Mr. Frank Ofosu-Asante, Western Regional Population Officer on Monday called on the Government to integrate Family Planning into the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

He made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on this year's World Population Day Celebration at Sekondi

The Day, which falls on July 11, would be celebrated under the theme: "Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services".

Mr. Ofosu-Asante said patronage of family planning services in the country was low and when integrated into NHIS, its services would be available and affordable to many people.

He said patronage of family planning services could help reduce fertility rate of the region, which is presently high.

Mr. Ofosu-Asante said population growth of the region had increased from 1,924,577 in 2000 to 2,376,021 in 2010, representing 23.5 per cent.

He said the situation was alarming and if it was not controlled, it could reverse all economic gains made.

Mr. Ofosu-Asante said there is a linkage between demographic factors and economic growth.

Another area of concern to the National Population Council, he said, was the growing incidence of HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) in the region.

Mr. Ofosu-Asante said these were major threats to the individual, the family, the community, health system, population programmes, poverty reduction strategies and overall development programmes that needed attention.**