UK to provide £2.7m worth of contraceptives to avert unintended pregnancies in Ghana

The UK government will provide about £2.7 million worth of contraceptives to Ghana, says the Department for International Development (DFID) September 27, 2011.

the first batch of the contraceptives to be provided by the UKaid, will be received by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in October this year.

“In October this year, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) will receive the first part of a delivery of 2.5 million doses of injectable contraceptives and 66,350 doses of implant contraceptives provided by UKaid – it is estimated this will avert 178,000 unintended pregnancies.  In total, UKaid will provide up to £2.7 million worth of contraceptives over the next 15 months,” said DFID in a statement.

Ms Sally Taylor, DFID’s Country Director for Ghana, said: “A woman’s ability to choose the number of children can have a major impact on her own health and that of her children, and their subsequent life chances. DFID is very pleased to be able to support the Ghanaian Government’s commitment to ensure universal access to family planning services.”

The department also announced support for family planning measures that will benefit almost 690,000 Ghanaians over the next year as part of National Family Planning Week.

The statement adds that the UK government is providing funding for a new reproductive health project led by Marie Stopes International and IPAS, which will work in Ghana and 13 other countries in Africa and Asia.

“Over the next five years, this Preventing Maternal Deaths and Unwanted Pregnancies Programme will seek to prevent 18,300 maternal deaths and 2.8 million unintended pregnancies.”

DFID is also currently designing additional programmes to strengthen family planning and reproductive health in Ghana, officials say.

By Ekow Quandzie