By Laudia Sawer, GNA
Tema, Nov. 13, GNA - Adolescent friendly health providers in the Tema Metropolis have expressed their joy at efforts being made for teenagers to get acquainted with family planning efforts as they claim it has reduced the high rate of teenage pregnancies and abortions in the area.
The health providers expressed their delight during a recent review meeting held at the Tema Metropolitan Health Directorate.
They said to prevent unwanted pregnancies and its related concerns, among sexually active adolescents, they rolled out a number of programmes including the provision of free or subsidized family planning services to the youth.
They said some of the adolescent were not ready to abstain from sex, hence the need to put them on family planning as a measure to prevent pregnancies and illegal abortions.
Statistics available to the Ghana News Agency reveal that between January and September this year, a total of 1,559 adolescents aged between ten to 19 years were placed on various family planning programmes in the metropolis.
The figure shows a sharp increase over the 697 and 896 adolescents put on family planning in the year 2018 and 2017 respectively.
Out of the number, 33 of them were from Community One; 299 from Tema Manhean; 14 from Tema North; 1,002 from Tema South; and 211 from Tema West.
The data shows that 70 abortions cases were recorded among the age groups in Tema South during the period, Tema West saw seven terminations while Community One and Tema North had a case each.
Meanwhile, 468 expectant mothers aged between ten and 19 were registered for antenatal between January and September 2019 as compared to the 611 and 628 registered for 2018 and 2017 respectively.
Madam Augustina Nsoah, Head of the Family Planning Unit at the Tema Polyclinic confirmed to the GNA that the adolescents patronised family planning services from their facility.
Madam Nsoah said many of her adolescent clients were mostly put on the three and five years implants whiles others settled for injectable and oral contraceptives.
She said they were now working on the option of Intrauterine device (IUD) for them adding that despite putting them on family planning, they also encouraged them on the need abstain from such acts.
Mrs Grace Amewu, Tema Metropolitan Adolescent Focal Person at the Health Directorate, said even though some adolescents were being put on family planning, the emphasize is on abstinence from sex as that was the only way to protect oneself from unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
GNA
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