By Stephen Asante, GNA
Kumasi, Sept 30, GNA – Muslim Family Counselling Services, an NGO, has called for increased public education on reproductive health to help the people make informed decisions about their sexual lives.
This, it noted, was vital to the effort to control the nation’s rapid population growth.
The call was contained in a statement signed by Mr. Mohammed Bun Bida, the Programmes Director, in Kumasi, to mark this year’s world contraception day.
It asked that more was done to empower married couples to choose when to have children and the number of children they would want to have.
That, it indicated, was the way forward for the effective utilization of state resources to improve wellbeing of the people.
The statement warned that the high rate at which Ghana’s population was growing could have dire consequences for the economy.
The country’s population is predicted to hit 60 million by year 2050.
It raised concern about what it said was the soaring teenage pregnancies and urged urgent action to deal with the situation.
The day has been set aside to create public awareness and educate the population on the use of contraceptives.
Sex education programmes, targeting the youth to prevent unplanned pregnancies, abortion and sexually-transmitted-infections, had been lined up by the NGO to celebrate the event.
The people, particularly married couples, would also be encouraged to accept family planning methods.
The statement suggested the inclusion of reproductive health in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
It added that programmes and plans on family planning and sexual and reproductive health must be developed, implemented and funded in partnership with civil society groups to achieve the desired outcomes.
GNA