Sunyani: The Bono Region recorded 14,877 teenage pregnancies from 2021 to 2024, Miss Rita Adjoa Ansong, the Deputy Director of Nursing Services, Public Health at the Bono Regional Directorate of Health has said. She noted that the region also recorded 1,188 cases of abortion within the same period, involving girls aged between 15 and 19 years.
According to Ghana News Agency, Ms Ansong disclosed these figures during a stakeholders' meeting on the African Vaccination Week (AVW) and the Child Health Promotion Week (CHPW), organized by the Bono Regional Directorate of Health in Sunyani. She detailed that 3,999 pregnancies and 388 cases of abortions were recorded in 2021, 4,058 pregnancies and 351 abortions in 2022, 3,492 pregnancies with 217 abortions in 2023, and 3,328 pregnancies and 282 abortions in 2024.
Ms Ansong urged stakeholders to support efforts to improve Family Planning (FP) coverage among sexually active teenage girls in the region to curb the high rates of pregnancies. She highlighted that FP enables girls to make informed choices regarding their sexual and reproductive health, thereby allowing them to continue their education.
She identified myths, misconceptions, lack of community support, and outdated cultural and religious beliefs as obstacles preventing girls and women from accessing FP services. The regional coverage for FP services was 39.58% in 2024, compared to 36.45% in 2023. The acceptor rate for 2024 showed a marginal increase of 0.08% over the previous year, attributed to partner collaboration, commodity supply, and the re-registration of long-acting reversible contraceptive methods (LARC).
Ms Ansong acknowledged the contribution of free services from Marie Stopes, DKT, and the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) in improving the acceptor rate. She emphasized that FP empowers women and girls to make informed choices about their future, leading to healthier pregnancies and reduced maternal deaths, and called on stakeholders and the media to intensify awareness and address barriers.
Dr Prince Quarshie, the Deputy Director, Public Health at the Bono Regional Directorate of Health, explained that the meeting aimed to raise awareness among stakeholders and the public about the importance of immunization and the full spectrum of child health services available in the country. The AVW, established by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2010, promotes immunization as a lifesaving intervention and is celebrated annually during the last week of April. The CHPW, introduced by the Ministry of Health in 2004, aims to improve child survival rates and focuses on nutrition, immunization, and preventive care for children under five years.
