Study cites inadequate parental support as leading to unprotected sex among teens
Inadequate parental support to adolescents is emerging as one of the leading causes of girls vulnerability to boys, a driving force for multiple sexual partners especially in Northern Ghana.
A research conducted by the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR), a non-governmental organisation revealed that the essence of the findings was to prompt policy makers and health providers to see how the menace could be addressed.
The research which was conducted in Bongo and Builsa Districts in the Upper East Region, and the Agona East and Komenda Edina Eguafo Abirem Districts in the Central Region in 2012 attracted stakeholders including health service providers, staff of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), opinion leaders, the District Assembly and journalists.
“The use of crude methods for abortion including grinded bottle, salt in hot water, Guinness is a common practice,” says the report.
It recommended that special social support programmes should be designed for adolescent mothers who drop out of school.
The research expressed the need to bring adolescents closer to health care providers, and an effective bridge towards adolescent counseling.
“In the absence of an immediate solution to this, psychosocial counseling will be an important factor towards empowering adolescent girls to negotiate safe sex all the time.”
Mass media communication programmes, the research noted should be designed to address the adolescent reproductive problem.
The Programme Officer of ARHR, Ms Patricia Opoku Afriyie who presented the research finding explained that her outfit with funding from Catholic Organisation for Relief and Development Aid, The Netherlands implemented the “Citizens Health Accountability Project “from 2010 to 2012.
According to her, the assessment focused on human resources for health, access to NHIS, experiences of adolescent reproductive health services, reflections on service satisfaction, maternal and child services uptake and sexual and reproductive health experiences.
Source: GNA