By Bertha Badu-Agyei
Koforidua, Feb 2, GNA – Adolescent pregnancy rate in the Eastern Region dropped from 13.1 per cent in 2019 to 5.9 per cent in 2023.
Within the period 365 adolescent girls who got pregnant attended school during pregnancy or after delivery, while 96 also chose to learn a skill.
Madam Ellen Asare, the Deputy Director of Nursing in the Eastern Region, disclosed this in a presentation at a Child Protection Committee meeting in Koforidua.
That achievement, she said, was due to the implementation of the “Safety Net Program”, a key strategy initiated by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to reduce Adolescent pregnancies in the region.
The Eastern Regional Health Directorate initiated the programme, in collaboration with key stakeholders, namely Girls Education officers of the Ghana Education Service, Social Welfare Department, and DOVSSU to halt the trend of alarming teenage or Adolescent pregnancies.
The programme started with three districts in 2019 and scaled up to cover all 27 districts by 2022.
She said the Programme connected pregnant adolescents to care and assistance to ensure they did not end up in child marriages or drop out of school.
Madam Abobo Sidick, the Eastern Regional Director, Department of Children, Gender and Children Ministry, expressed worry over issues of teenage pregnancies, child abuse, and exploitation and urged stakeholders to strengthen collaborative efforts to halt the situation.
Key among the issues discussed at the meeting were the enforcement of by-laws on child protection and welfare by the respective assemblies in line with the child protection policies.
The Child Protection Committee is a multisectoral group with representatives from GHS, Ghana Education Service, DOVSSU, and Civil Society Organisations focused on children, media practitioners, and decentralised government departments and agencies.
GNA