The human rights girls are enjoying are fueling
teenage pregnancies in the country, a Queen mother has observed.

According to Nana Akosua Akomah, the Sompahemaa (good servant) of the
Sunyani Traditional Area, many girls had gone wayward, with their
parents losing control of them because of “the so-called human
rights which have eaten into their minds”.

She admitted girls had some rights, but it behoved on their parents to
ensure they were brought up in a God-fearing and more responsible
manner, regretting “nowadays you can’t even discipline or punish
your own daughter because of the so-called human rights”.

The Queenmother said this when speaking at a stakeholder’s
engagement on the dissemination of the National Family Planning (FP)
2030 commitment which coincided with the launch of the FP Day in
Sunyani.

With support from its partners, the Bono Regional Directorate of
Health organised the engagement attended by representatives from
transport unions, market women traders’ associations, disability
groups, health workers, and traditional authorities.

Among other objectives, the meeting also aimed at sensitizing the
participants on the nation’s FP 2030 commitment, protocols and
acceptor rate.

Nana Akomah said teenage pregnancies were rising in the country,
partly due to parents’ inability to control their girls, coupled
with the uncontrolled use of social media among the girls.

“There are excesses in some of these human rights provisions, alien
to our culture and tradition and we must re-look and revise them to
enable us to discipline our wayward girls in society”, she stated.

Dr Prince Quarshie, the Deputy Director, of Public Health, Bono
Regional Directorate of Health indicated the need for parents to also
encourage their girls to access FP services to stem and control
alarming cases of teenage pregnancies in the country.

He dispelled some myths about FP services, saying it was untrue that
FP services such as combine pills, secure, injectables, spermicides,
intra-ulterior contraceptive devices, implants and vasectomies were
hazardous to harmful to human health.

Dr Quarhsie said the region’s FP acceptor rate remained low despite
intensified public education on the services, FP practices kept
decreasing, declining from 42.2 per cent in 2021 to 30.2 per cent in
2022 and 27.2 per cent in 2023.

Nonetheless, the Deputy Director stressed the FP acceptor rate in some
of the Districts and Municipalities in the region was encouraging.

Dr Quarshie said every individual or couple, including teenagers, were
eligible for their own choice of FP options, and advised health
workers to counsel and provide sexually active people with the
services.

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) also covers FP services
and those who had registered with the scheme could use their cards to
go for the services, he stated.