Unsafe abortions surge at Brohane

Unsafe abortion among teenagers has reached an alarming state at Brohani, a farming community in the Banda District of the Brong-Ahafo Region.

Madam Mamunatu Ibrahim, the midwife in-charge of the Brohani Rural Clinic, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that the practice was among girls between the ages of 13 and 15 years.

Though she could not immediately provide figures on cases reported, Madam Ibrahim said early marriage was the major contributory factor to the unsafe abortion rates in the area.

She said teenage pregnancy was rife in the area, and appealed to relevant institutions to help control early and forced marriages in the community.

Madam Ibrahim said though teenage pregnancy was high in the area, only four teenage girls of 13 and 14 years delivered at the Clinic between January to May this year.

She indicated that because of early and forced marriages, many of the girls in the area had dropout of school and were now nursing babies.

Madam Ibrahim said because of poverty, many parents in the area had shirked their responsibility towards the upbringing of their children making the girl go into early marriage at the expense of their education.

The midwife added that adolescent girls in the area lacked sexual education and that could partly be a factor to the alarming rate of teenage pregnant and unsafe abortion.

Source: GNA