Dr. Abdulai Abukari
The North East Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Abdulai Abukari, has revealed that out of the 3,962 adolescents who registered for Ante-Natal Clinic (ANC) 108 of them were between 10-14 years old.
According to the health director, the high teenage pregnancy rate in the region stood at 15.9% in 2021 (the highest in the country) as against 14.9% in 2020.
He was worried that teenagers in the region get married at an early stage and made a passionate appeal to stakeholders to support the health directorate in reversing the trend.
“Getting pregnant at the age of 10 to 14 years is just unacceptable and we need all the stakeholders in this region to ensure that we tackle the teenage pregnancy menace.”
Addressing participants at the 2021 Annual Health Sector Performance Review Meeting at Nalerigu in the North East region, Dr. Abukari lamented the operations of several unlicensed over-the-counter-medicine shops and drug peddlers across the region with some operators detaining and admitting patients in their shops.
The Regional Health Director indicated that the issue has been brought to the attention of FDA and Pharmacy Council for action.
Dr. Abukari in his presentation disclosed that in 2021 the region’s OPD per Capita slightly increase from 0.72 in 2020 to 0.75 in 2021 which was still below the target of 1.00. The proportion of insured patients at OPD decreased marginally from 89.8% in 2020 to 87.4% in 2021.
He again stated that the fight against maternal deaths has been a major challenge in the region despite all the strategies adopted to address it, noting that the region recorded 16 Institutional Maternal Deaths in 2021 bringing their Institutional Maternal Mortality Ratio to 84.8 per 100,000 live births compared to 58.8 per 100,000 live births for the year 2020.
“The Regional Health Directorate is therefore taking serious measures to reverse this worrisome trend in the region. I will therefore like to seize this opportunity to solicit the support of the Regional Minister and all other stakeholders in our fight against Maternal Deaths.”
A traditional leader, Guabulga Rana, Salifu Mahama Tampurie ,Chairman of the 2021 Annual Health Sector Performance Review Meeting said the issue of teenage pregnancy is a problem for the people of the North East region.
He called on Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Education Service to collaborate and find the last solutions to teenage pregnancy in the region.
FROM Eric Kombat, Nalerigu