Mr Anthony Koranteng Akwafo, the Southern Zone Chairperson of the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) has called on members of the Association to extend reproductive health messages to people everywhere they found themselves.

He said through such activities, the members could help reduce the incidence of unwanted pregnancies, the high maternal mortality rate in the country and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV.

Mr Akwafo said this when speaking at the formal opening of the 11th Annual General Meeting of the Southern Zone of PPAG at Accra on Saturday.

The Southern Zone comprises branches in Western, Central, Volta, Greater Accra and the Southern part of the Eastern Regions.

He urged members of the Association to identify and reach out to persons who needed the services of the association, and urged them to network among themselves and among branches in the zone and the country.

The Acting Zonal Manager of the association, Mr Jonathan Lamptey, said during the year under review, the project on strengthening the reproductive health programmes through male participation was implemented by the Takoradi Branch of the Association and it targeted male dominated organizations and groups.

He said under the project, activities were employed to provide information and education to increase communication among spouses and also motivate men to go in for permanent family planning methods.

Mr Lamptey said the zone also started the implementation of the community based contraceptive service project, under which field educators, male motivators and other community partners worked to provide reproductive health information and services to beneficiary groups with a total of 221,170 pieces of both male and female condoms sold out.

Ms Love Mensah, the Acting Greater Accra Branch Chairperson, reminded members of the Association that there are many men, women and young people who due to ignorance, engaged in unprotected sexual activities which exposed them to several reproductive health challenges.

She appealed to members to reach out to such people and get them educated so that the country would have a generation where the reproductive health issues of young people and women would be given the needed attention.**