Teenage pregnancy cases have been rampant in the Ashanti region after a total of 8,873 cases were recorded within the first six months of the year.
Between January and June 2018, a whopping number of teen pregnancies were recorded at various health facilities in the region.
In that same period, six thousand, two hundred and sixty-nine (6,269) teenagers also delivered.
This was disclosed by the Regional Deputy Health Director in charge of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr. Akwasi Yeboah-Awudzi.
According to him, 192 of the teenagers who successfully delivered are under the age of 15.
Intriguingly, the number of teen pregnancies recorded in the Ashanti region is a significant decrease as compared to last year which had 18,066 teenage pregnancies; 12,723 deliveries and 254 delivers below 15 years of age respectively at the same period.
Speaking at at the 2018 adolescent health ambassadors camp organised by the GHS in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr. Yeboah-Awudzi said the Directorate is working to drastically reduce teenage pregnancy cases in the region.
Also speaking at the event was Programmes Analyst at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Adjoa Yenji, who attributed the rise in teenage cases to social media.
According to her, some of the videos and content read on social media sometimes mislead the teenagers to engage in sexual activities, leading to pregnancy.
She urged school authorities and parents to play watchdog roles to ensure that the menace is mitigated.
Source:myjoyonline
