Govt produces policy on sexual and reproductive health

Tarkwa, Oct. 22, GNA - The government, through the Ministry of Health, has produced a national health policy that sets out guidelines and standards for health delivery, including sexual and reproductive health.

Mr Benjamin Whyte, Western Regional Population Officer, said this at a workshop on adolescence reproductive health for some members of the Wassa West District Assembly at Tarkwa, on Tuesday.

Mr Whyte drew attention to the health implications of early sexuality and said pregnancies involving women under the age of 18 years entail risks to the mother and child.

"Women who get pregnant at a younger age are more likely to have prolonged and obstructed labour and are also more likely to delay seeking necessary parental care due to the shame associated with early pregnancy".

"On the average teenage mothers experience higher maternal deaths than the average for Ghana and their children also experience higher levels of morbidity and mortality than children of older women".

Mr Whyte appealed to assemblymen and policy makers to help adolescents to adopt methods to ensure safe sex refrain from ways that could affect their health and cultivate values for their advancement.

Mr Emmanuel Papa Assan, Regional Youth Coordinator, said majority of adolescents are poorly informed about sexuality and reproduction.

He said often policy makers, public opinion leaders and parents believe that withholding information about sexuality and reproduction from young people would dissuade them from becoming sexually active.

Mr E. K. Ayensu, Wassa West District Chief Executive, said reproductive health issues could no longer be relegated to the background because of the HIV/AIDS menace.

In an address read on his behalf, he said it is time for the assembly to discuss and fashion a better way of dealing with adolescence reproductive health problems.

The participants expressed concern about the fact that, 12 year-old girls get pregnant these days and called on the Ghana Education Service to organise in-service courses on reproductive health for teachers to enable them to educate children on the implications of early pregnancy.