Coalition attributes most maternal deaths to unsafe abortions

Mr. Kwabena Afena-Sam, Brong Ahafo Chairman of the Ghana National Coalition of Non Governmental Organizations (NGO) in health, on Thursday called for the establishment of youth health centers to enable them have access to health information and services.

He noted with concern that because a lot of teenagers, especially pregnant young girls did not feel comfortable visiting the health centers for relevant information and services concerning their lives, they ended up seeking advice from their peers, which sometimes resulted into loss of their lives.

The Regional Chairman made the call at a press soiree to sensitize the media to have a better understanding of sexually and reproductive health services in Sunyani.

It was under the theme: “Reducing high unsafe abortion and teenage pregnancies: Adolescents and young people access friendly reproductive health services”.

He stated that available statistics indicated that there were a lot maternal mortalities, which were related to unsafe abortions. Abortion practice, he added was common among girls between 13 and 19 years in the region.

Mr Afena-Sam said the youth today applied all kinds of herbs to terminate pregnancies due to ignorance.

He stated that high incidence of pregnancy had led to a number of school drop outs in the region which was affecting girls’ education.

Mr Afena-Sam entreated parents to have enough time to interact with their children to provide them with relevant information to guide their lives to avoid coping wrongly from their peers.

Mr. Thompson Asare, Inspectorate Director at the Ghana Education Service (GES), urged parents to have control of the house and prevent their children from watching television for hours without any supervision.

He asked parents to use proper procedures in dealing with their children.

Source: GNA