...in 52 districts over four-year period
Accra, Sept. 24, GNA - The Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) has within a period of almost four years distributed over nine million male condoms in 52 districts under a community-based project. Mrs Elsie Aryeh, a Programme Manager of PPAG, said between 2000 and September 2003, 26,658 female condoms had also been distributed and new family planning users increased from 68,007 to a total of 507,340 under the project.

The United States Agency for International Development funded the project at a cost of 2.8 million dollars.

Mrs Aryeh was speaking at a seminar organised by PPAG to present an overview of the project, which aimed at providing clients with contraceptive services at their doorsteps through the use of trained members of the communities in the rural areas.

The seminar was under the theme: "Agents Of Change: The Role Of Volunteers In Sexual Reproductive Health And HIV/AIDS Service Delivery." The PPAG pioneered the project in 1974 but after an extensive review, the project was developed to cover the period 2000 to September 2003 as a means of expanding its provision of services.

Mrs Aryeh said some of the strategies adopted included the training of community-based agents to offer counselling on HIV/AIDS, distribute non-prescriptive contraceptives, provide first aid services and treat minor injuries.

Mr Moses Mukasa, the Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund, said world population was increasing by over 80 million people each year with almost all the population growth, taking place in developing countries.

He said some 1,600 women continued to die every day worldwide from complications of pregnancy and childbirth and "new increases in HIV infections continue to be registered - an indication of our collective failure to prevent the spread of the HIV in our midst."

He said studies continued to show that the primary reason for unwanted pregnancies was the lack of contraceptives.

Dr Joanna Nerquaye-Tetteh, Executive Director of PPAG, said the Association's new focus for service delivery was the youth.