By Patrick Ofoe Nudzi
Accra, Sept. 28, GNA – The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has urged families to embrace family planning and contraception to promote the health of women and children and ensure responsible population growth.
Dr Kennedy Brightson, the Director of Family Health at the GHS, said families must plan the number of children they could adequately and appropriately care for, considering their economic circumstances and the health of women.
He made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after a health walk and community activities organized on Saturday, September 26, 2026, through the principal streets of the La township as part of the National Family Planning Launch 2026.
Dr Brightson said family planning was not solely a women’s issue but required the involvement of both men and women in making informed decisions about the size and wellbeing of their families.
He also called on religious leaders to support family planning, saying they had an important role to play in educating their congregations on responsible parenthood.
He said having more children than a family could adequately support could contribute to challenges including inadequate care, poor development and children ending up on the streets.
Dr Brightson said the GHS was intensifying education through community engagements, radio and television programmes to provide accurate information on family planning and contraception.
He noted that interest in family planning was increasing, but said occasional declines in contraceptive uptake could be linked to shortages of commodities rather than reduced interest.
Mr Paul Mensah, a National Fitness Instructor, who led participants through aerobics after the walk, said healthy living was an integral component of family planning, stressing that everyone needed regular exercise to stay fit.
“You have to be fit to be able to use contraceptives. You cannot be on a sick bed and be using condom. Once we eat every day, we equally need to exercise to be healthy. Doctors sometimes prescribed exercise for patients as part of their treatment,” he said.
Mr Mensah said medicine alone could not cure all sicknesses or health conditions, adding that exercise activated the muscles, nerves, bones and other parts of the body.
“There are many cases of cholesterol and fats that we are not burning. So, the aerobics we just had is good for the heart, weight management, blood sugar control, mental well-being and mobility,” the Fitness Instructor added.
The event brought together health professionals, particularly those in the family planning space, who provided women at the La Market, traders and community members with family planning information, counselling and services.
The all-day event also featured the distribution of contraceptives, including condoms for participants who were served food and non-alcoholic beverages before going home with the commitment to promote family planning towards achieving healthy mothers, healthy children and a healthy nation.
GNA
Edited by Benjamin Mensah
Reporter: Patrick Ofoe Nudzi
Reporter’s email address: [email protected]