ARH issues need disciplinary approach

Kumasi, Nov 27, GNA- A Deputy Director of Nursing Services at the Kumasi Metropolitan Health Directorate has stated that the Adolescent Reproductive Health (ARH) problems needed a multi-disciplinary approach for solution.

Mrs Theresa Oduro Acheampong therefore called on churches, school authorities, community leaders and health workers to come together and help find a solution to the problem.

Speaking at the opening of a 10-day trainer of trainers sensitisation workshop on adolescent reproductive health care at Kyirapatre near Kumasi on Saturday, she said many of the youth continued to get pregnant, and infected with sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.

The workshop, organised by the Kumasi South Hospital, is being attended by 25 health personnel from the public and private health institutions within the Asokwa sub-metro and sponsored by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in collaboration with African Youth Alliance (AYA). Mr M. Owusu-Aboagye, a tutor at the Kintampo Rural Health Training School and an adolescent health resource person, noted that the adolescent stage was a transitional period. He said it was at this stage that the youth were faced with option of choosing between good and bad, a situation, which would determine their future.

He therefore called on health personnel to see themselves, as not only clinical service providers but also social service providers. Mrs Vivian Addo-Cobbiah, a Senior Nursing Officer and an adolescent reproductive health trainer for Ashanti, said students from five schools in the Asokwa sub-metro had been sensitised on HIV/AIDS, and common disorders in adolescents.