Only 57% of births in Ghana are registered – Akosa
Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, a Commissioner, National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), says one per cent of young girls in their adolescent age accounts for the majority of abortions in the country.
This he said leads to the poor registration of children at birth, adding: “Only 57 per cent of the country births are registered.”
Prof Akosa was speaking on Adolescent Reproductive Health Programming-The Multi-Sectoral Approach at the National Adolescent Reproductive Health Summit 2016, organised by the National Population Council (NPC) in partnership with the Palladium Group with funding from the Department for International Development in Accra.
It was on the theme: “Reproductive Health and Well-being of Adolescents and Young People in Ghana: The Multi-Sectoral Approach.”
He urged parents to talk to their adolescent children on the best practices of sexual reproductive health in ensuring their safe promotion into adulthood.
Prof Akosa said children must be told and taken through education and the importance of protecting and preserving their adolescent ‘delay in sex’ to a better future.
He said about nine million adolescents in the country are not being helped by their parents in their transformation from their transformation into adulthood.
Presenting a paper on Breaking Existing Barriers in Adolescent Reproductive give health, Prof Adesegun Fatusi, Chair Adolescent Health and Development Working Group, said adolescent services must be designed with the lens of adolescents development and its evolving issues.
Pro Fatusi who is also the Provost of the College of Health Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, noted that the factors that make it difficult for adolescents to obtain the health service they need are not available.
Ms Marian Kpakpa, Acting Executive Director of the NPC, said her outfit would continue the dialogue annually to provide a platform for the review of progress in ARH.
She said the ARH summit is convened to promote the effective coordination of the implementation of the revised ARH Policy and programmes and to account for stewardship to the people of Ghana.
“It will also serve as a platform to review progress made on the implementation of ARH Policy and programmes, build programmatic consensus and mobilise support for ARH programming in the country.”
Nana Kobina Nketsia V, Omanhene, Essikado and Chairman of the summit said parents must be committed in the society to show responsibility to their children.
There were representatives from the United Kingdom Agency for International Development, the United Nations Population Fund, the United States Agency for International Development, Civil Society Organisations, the Youth Advisory Board, the NDPC and the Ghana Health Service.
The NPC was established in 1992 and subsequently given a legal backing the NPC Act, 1994, (Act 485) to advice Government on all population issues.
The vision of the NPC council is to achieve a better quality of life for the people of Ghana through effective population management, while its mission is to advice Government on population related issues.
It also ensures that population issues remain central to development planning through effective coordination of population policies and programmes, advocacy and networking as well as the integration of population variables into development planning at all levels.
Source: GNA