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Deputy Regional Minister appeals to
men to support family planning
Accra, July 10, Ghanadot/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.
GNA
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