By Alexander Nyarko Yeboah, GNA
Tema, Nov 19.GNA - The Assembly Man for the Kwesi Plange Electoral Area, Mr. Alhassan Issah, has asked adolescents in Tema not to allow themselves to be deceived into wrongful activities.
"I am asking all the youth, do not allow yourselves for anybody to deceive you into doing drugs or any vice. They are going to destroy your future," he warned.
Mr. Alhassan was speaking on behalf of the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Tema, Mr. Felix Mensah Nii Annan-La, during the National Adolescent Health Week celebrations organized by the Tema Health Directorate in Tema.
The programme which was on the theme, "Reducing Adolescent Pregnancy: A Shared Responsibility”, saw young people from most second cycle institutions in Tema as well as some adolescents from the various communities participating.
The Director of the Tema Metropolitan Health Directorate, Dr. John Yabani, in a key note address, observed that the Metropolis was still "challenged with pregnancy, unsafe abortion and HIV infection among the adolescent even though the numbers were reducing."
He said "if ten to 19 year olds are getting pregnant, it is a very serious matter and we need to do something about it urgently."
According to him, teenage pregnancy was as high as 562 cases in 2015. This figure increased marginally in 2016 and drop to 475 by September 2017.
The directorate also recorded 95 cases of abortion among the adolescent in 2015. According to statistics, this figure reduced substantially in 2016 to 44 cases and rose to 64 in 2017.
According to Dr. Yabani, 2015 recorded 17 cases of teenagers testing positive for HIV, with the number rising to 21 in 2016 and as high as 139 by September 2017.
He said when the adolescent was bombarded with a lot of issues, they needed to be helped to make informed choices.
He therefore called on all stakeholders within the Metropolis to give the adolescent the needed attention in making "the adolescent grow responsibly into responsible adults."
He encouraged young people and parents to take part in regular screening in order to know more about themselves and protect their future.
He advised the youth to participate in the adolescent club activities in the various second cycle institutions within the Metropolis as well as the Community Health Clubs (CHC) in order to be guided with informed knowledge about their well-being.
Madam Mathilda Mahama of the Department of Social Welfare praised the Tema Health Directorate for its bold initiate in creating the CHC for young people, adding that "the adolescent are prepared to talk to one another in the communities instead of adults through the club activities."
She advised the ambassadors appointed to the various community groups not only to be watchmen and women, but also motivate and educate their peers.
As part of the activities marking the National Adolescent Health Advocacy Week, the Tema Health Directorate organised free health screening.
The directorate, together with the Rotary Club, Tema, and the Petroleum Ladies Association, provided free dental services to the adolescent and registered them freely onto the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS