Advocate against the use of sex appealing films and music -Mrs Wood

Akropong-Akuapem (E/R), Feb. 14, GNA- A representative of the Akuapem North District NGOs Net Work (ANGONET), Mrs. Joyce Wood, has called for a strong advocacy against the use of sex appealing films and music on the national broadcasting networks .

She expressed concern that "after educating the youth on the need to abstain from sex, one is confronted with the question to explain why,

sexually arousing music and films are openly played and telecast on national air waves."

Mrs Wood called on parents not to leave their children to watch pornographic films or listen to such music alone but should take advantage of such situations to explain to the youth the dangers involved in engaging in premarital sex to enable them make informed choices. She was speaking at a day's seminar for members of the Akuapem North District Population Advisory Committee on adolescent sexual and reproductive health under the African Youth Alliance Project(AYA) at Akropong-Akuapem on Friday.

The Akuapem North District Co-ordinator of the National Youth Council(NYC),Mr Roberto Agbadza, noted that women in the district had not been patronizing the sale of the female condoms under the AYA Challenge Cup Project being organized by his Department.

He said in the last quarter of last year, while the non-traditional condom distributors and peer educators of the project were able to sell 3,500 male condoms, the group sold only 30 female condoms during the same period.

Mr Agbadza said the women were reported to have complained that the female condoms were too big in size while others also feared that they could get stucked in their genital organ.

The report of the Co-ordinator of the Abiriw Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) Young and Wise Centre, Mrs Laura Nyarku-Ampem, who confirmed the low patronage of the female condoms in the district, said for the forth quarter of last year, her outfit sold 16,615 male condoms as against eight female condoms during the same period.

Mrs Nyarku-Ampem attributed the situation to their relative high cost as compared to the male condoms, adding that while a male condom is sold at 50 cedis each that of the female condom is sold at 300 cedis.

The Akuapem North District Chief Executive, Dr Eugenia Danquah Quist, urged the participants to share what they learnt with others and called for the involvement of women in the AYA Challenge Cup project.

The Eastern Regional Population Officer, Mr Kofi Abinah, called for the creation of more adolescent friendly health centres to provide care for the reproductive health needs of adolescent youth. He said the adolescents constitute about 22 per cent of the population of the country and so the promotion of their well-being meant contributing towards the future socio-economic development of the country.

Mr Abinah called for the building of the capacity of the region, district, zones and unit committees to be able to effectively handle issues of adolescent reproductive health needs of their area. Feb. 13. 04.