By Dennis Peprah
Odomase, (Bono), June 16, GNA â Mrs Lucy Sanyenu, the Sunyani West Municipal Public Health Nurse has urged the re-introduction and strengthening of the comprehensive health activities in basic schools.
She said research showed that teenage pregnancies were affecting girl-child education, suggesting the need for enhanced sex and reproduction health activities in basic schools.
That, she added, would greatly empower sexually active girls who could not control their sexual appetites to make informed decisions.
That, the public health nurse added, would make girls more enlightened about sex and thereby protect themselves against pregnancies that potentially truncate their education and inimical to their holistic growth, development and general wellbeing.
Mrs Sanyenu made the call when speaking at a community forum on adolescent health at Odomase in the Sunyani West Municipality of the Bono Region.
The Global Media Foundation (GloMeF), an anti-corruption media advocacy Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in collaboration with the Women Empowerment Network and Citizens Watch Ghana, both NGOs organized the forum.
Attended by basic school children, teachers, and representatives of Sunyani West and Sunyani Municipal Assemblies, the forum was in line with the âResilient City for Adolescents (RC4A)â project, implemented by the NGOs.
It created a common platform to collect the views of adolescents and to be infused into the medium-term development plans of the Municipal Assemblies.
The Swiss Bortnar Foundation is funding the 300,000-pounds sterling project which seeks to improve adolescent lives.
Mrs Sanyenu said girls had the right to comprehensive sex education to make informed decisions, saying denying them that right caused problems for them, and affected their wellbeing.
Though she could not immediately provide statistics, the public health nurse said teenage pregnancy was gaining disturbing proportions in the Sunyani West Municipality, with Odomase, Chiraa and Fiapre being the worst affected towns.
Mr Raphael Godlove Ahenu, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of GloMeF noted that some basic schoolgirls were actively engaging in sex, hence the need to improve sex education in schools.
He said the project implementation unveiled an ultra-modern digital and health clinic for the adolescent in Sunyani, urging families to encourage their teenagers to make use of the facility.
The facility would bridge the digital divide and provide counselling and thereby empower adolescents to leverage digitization productively for learning and other online job opportunities.
Mr Simon Asore, the Executive Director of Citizens Watch Ghana, an NGO and the RC4A implementation partner stressed the need for the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to prioritise adolescent health and wellbeing.
He said the voices of the young people ought to be well heard and captured in the decision-making process at both local and national levels.
GNA
Edited by Dennis Peprah/Kenneth Odeng Adade