Accra, July 10, GNA-Ms. Theresa Tagoe, Deputy Greater Accra Regional Minister on Thursday appealed for male support to reposition family planning in Ghana.

"Male support and involvement in family planning crucial for any success to be achieved and I pray that Members of Parliament which is male dominated would blaze the trail and lend its full support and contribute to reposition family planning in Ghana, the Deputy Minister told Parliament in a statement on the floor of the House.

The statement, which advocated the placement of family planning high on the agenda of national development, was part of the Ghana's celebration of the World Population Day, which falls on Friday July 11, 2008.

The World Population Day, set aside by the United Nations, is to raise awareness on key population issues confronting the world.

The global theme for this year's celebration is: "Family Planning is Right, Let's Make It Real; and in Ghana, the theme is; "Repositioning Family Planning is a Must for National Development, Let's Make It Real."

Ms. Tagoe reminded the nation of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, at which the call was made on countries to take steps to meet the family planning needs of the people and to provide by 2015, universal access to a full range of safe and reliable family planning methods.

The Deputy Minister, who is also the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Caucus on Population and Development, noted that unsafe and ineffective family planning methods due to the lack of access to family planning and information services had resulted in unwanted pregnancies and maternal deaths.

She said proper family planning brought advantages as preventing early and unwanted pregnancies, increased life opportunities, education and work as well as preventing HIV/AIDS, and the nation could not afford to ignore or down play family planning as she strove to meet both global and national development targets to improve the quality of life of its citizenry.

Despite a high population growth rate of 23 per cent, and a fertility rate of 4.4 per cent, Ghana however has a low contraceptive rate of 19 per cent.

It also has high unmet needs of women between the ages of 25 and 49 years for family planning of 34 per cent because many women lack access to family planning information and services.

Also many young people do not have access to separate confidential youth friendly services that can offer the information and services they need.

Ms Tagoe said some progress had so far been achieved in repositioning family planning.

She announced that there would be a national launch of a document on "Repositioning Family Planning in Ghana, but however called for more programmes to be implemented to reach target groups.

Mr. Bradford Adu (NPP-Okere), in a contribution called on fellow legislators to impress on their constituents to space their children, explaining that parents tended to shirk their responsibilities when they had large numbers of children.

Mrs Juliana Azumah-Mensah (NDC-Ho East) called on health facilities to be family planning friendly.

"We need to put in place proper family planning policies and encourage our young people to have the right choices. When these are not done, that's when

we have increase in maternal mortality, because of unsafe abortions. We need pragmatic services, to make sure young people can go to a family planning clinic, and don't go behind the door to have abortions or abandon babies",

Mrs. Azumah-Mensah said. Alhaji Abdul Rashid Pelpuo (NDC-Wa Central) stressed that there was need for very serious approach to family planning. Mr. Stephen Kwaku Balado Manu (NPP-Ahafo Ano South) enumerated some reasons why some men and women give birth to more children as child high mortality in some communities, children as social security, but added that child-bearing was not a crime, but must be regulated to match the nation's natural resources to bring progress to its population.