Make family planning attractive to youth to curb unsafe abortions - PPAG

Correspondence from Central Region

The Plan Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) has called on authorities to present family planning attractively to the youth to help curb unsafe abortions resulting to maternal mortalities in the country.

It said unsafe abortions could be resolved if the youth were abreast with modern family planning method and did not resort to unskilled persons or used dangerous methods that could lead to complications including death.

In an interview with Ghanaweb on curbing unsafe abortion, Michael Tagoe, Project Officer of PPAG for the Central and Western Regions, said unsafe abortions could lead to blood loss and other medical emergencies and entreated health workers not to allow their acts to become barriers to accessing services by the young ones.

He called on the citizenry to end stigmatizing young girls who seek for safe abortion services to help fight major contributor to the increased rate of unsafe abortions and its related consequences.

The media needed to work with the Civil Society Organizations in promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health and Right (SRHR) Services and also support community initiative related to sexual and reproductive health and right.

Tagoe revealed that, a high number of the youth suffer illnesses and deaths each year with preventable and treatable conditions because they lacked access to better information on health.

Education should be intensified at all angles from the parents, teachers, leaders among others to the youth to get them abreast with the consequences relating unsafe abortions.

That would help them seek abortion services from right sources and facilities to help in curbing the canker. The Project Officer said parent should be responsible and available for their children to support in education and prevention of unsafe abortions.

He advised all persons to come on board to help safe mothers who loses lives through unsafe abortion for the betterment of all.