The North East Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Abdulai Abukari, has revealed that out of 3,962 adolescents who registered for Antenatal Care (ANC) with their pregnancies in the North East region, 108 of them were between 10-14 years old.
According to the health director, the high teenage pregnancy rate among teenagers attending Antenatal Care (ANC) in the region, 15.9% in 2021 is the highest in the country. In 2020, it stood at 14.9%, he added.
He was worried that teenagers in the region get married very early and made a passionate appeal to all stakeholders to support the health directorate in reversing the trend of increasing teenage pregnancy rate in the region.
“Getting pregnant at the age of 10-14 years is just unacceptable and it is our hope to involve all the stakeholders in this region to ensure that we tackle the teenage pregnancy menace in the region,” he stressed.
Addressing participants at the 2021 Annual Health Sector Performance Review Meeting at Nalerigu in the North East Region, he lamented about 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 the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and Pharmacy Council for action.
A traditional leader, Guabulga Rana, Salifu Mahama Tampurie, Chairman of the 2021 Annual Health Sector Performance Review Meeting, accepted that teenage pregnancy is a problem in the region.
FROM Eric Kombat, Nalerigu