By Eric Appah Marfo/Julius Ofoe
Accra, July 25, GNA — The Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) has called for the inclusion of sexual reproductive health and rights education in the school curriculum to help the youth make informed choices about their reproductive health.
Miss Abena Adubea Amoah, Executive Director of PPAG, noted that Ghana’s cultural orientation frowned upon the subject of sexual reproductive health and rights, however, children and youth needed such information to take charge of their lives.
“It is important to prepare young people for adult life and to let the entire country know that adult life does not just happen—we must prepare for it through the provision of information and education.”
“So, if Government is running a good programme like Free SHS and don’t provide the platform for information and education to young people, the females can easily get pregnant and will not be able to go to school.”
She said this on Tuesday during a media tour of the PPAG resources (clinic, youth centre and contact centre) in Accra.
Ms Amoah said many adults, unfortunately, misconstrued their mandate and assumed that they were adulterating the Ghanaian culture and encouraging promiscuous behaviour amongst the youth.
She said PPAG had broadened its operations to include online engagements with the youth to address their sexual reproductive health concerns.
Ms Amoah said teenage pregnancies could cause complications during delivery, leading to an increase in maternal deaths.
“Unplanned pregnancies make them school dropouts and become a burden to the economy. Many of these young people lack information and knowledge on how to take care of the children they give birth to. As such, we end up having children giving birth to children who don’t know what to do. Their children also become dependent on the economy.”
She said although Government had the responsibility of building schools, roads and other social amenities, parents should be working to pay taxes for Government to use for development.
The Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) is a Non-Governmental Organisation established in 1967. It became a full member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in 1969.
The Association has a long history of leadership in Family Planning programmes in Ghana and has pioneered many projects, including Family Life Education (FLE) for the Youth, Male Clinics, and the integration of Family Planning into Community Development Projects.
Originally, the Association was focused on family planning for adults until some transformation began in 1999 with a focus on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). In line with the ICPD program of action, the National Population Policy and the National Youth Policy, the Association, PPAG expanded its focus to cover young people between 10 to 24 years (Primary target), both in and out of school.
In addition, men and women of reproductive age remain PPAG’s secondary target. It is currently the leading Non-Governmental Organization providing Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services in Ghana. The Association works to complement the efforts of the Government in providing healthcare and development for the nation.
GNA