Teenage Pregnancy at Mangoase a farming community in the Akuapem North Municipality of the Eastern region has hit an alarming rate due to Poverty.
At least 70% of pregnant women who visited Mangoase Health Center in 2016 were teenagers between the ages of 14 to 19 years.
Interventions such as public education, distribution of condoms and family planning services by health officials have helped reduce the menace to about 50% of antenatal attendants in 2017.
Okada Riders have been accused of being mostly responsible for the teenage pregnancy cases in the area as they entice the young girls with little monies and free transportation to their destinations.
Martha Mensah, a Midwife in charge at Mangoase Health Center in an interview with Starr News’ Eastern regional correspondent, Kojo Ansah said poverty and lack of parental guidance are the main causes of the high rate of teenage pregnancy in the area.
“I was posted to this place in 2016 and when you look at the trend for the year about 70% of pregnancy recorded in that year were teenagers. It ranges from 14 to 19 years as at this year (2017) it about 50 % to 60%.
“What I realized was the health education was poor, there is poverty and lack of parental guidance so I decided to go for health services, organized durbar in the community to educate the public so that this year we don’t get the high number of teenage pregnancy.”
According to the midwife, teenage girls particularly students who cannot abstain have been put on family planning programmes.
“Some of them have been put on family planning services if only you can’t control yourself. So students from Mangoase Senior High School and those in the town especially the JHS pupils have been patronizing.”
William Akorle, Assembly Member for New Mangoase Electoral area at Akuapem North wants government to help provide credit facilities to farmers in the area to revive agriculture to enable them take good care of their children to reduce teenage pregnancy which has become endemic in the community.
He also appealed to government to provide jobs and agribusiness opportunities to the youth.
Mary Asabea, a 32-year-old resident at Mangoase has already given birth to eight children including triplets in cohabitation.
She started given birth at 17 years.
She attributed her predicament to poverty which has been worsened.
“I gave birth to my first child at age 17, my parents didn’t have money to take care of me so I took solace in a man, now we have 8 children including triplets. But there is no money, only 3 of my children are in school, sometimes even we starve the whole day without food.”
Alhasan Nuhu, CEO of Faith Dawa Foundation, an NGO operating in the Akuapem North Municipality providing support to the poor was coincidentally met donating food items to Mary Asabea and her children during the new year festive season, the family has been starving since the Christmas period due to lack of money .
Nuhu told Starr News that the poverty level of the people in the municipality is alarming hence wants measures to be taken to help address the situation to enable parents take care of their Children to curb some of the deviant behaviour in the community.
Mangoase, was once a vibrant agriculture community and undoubtedly a food basket of the Ghanaian economy. It also housed some critical state agricultural storage facilities which according to History attracted top state officials including the late Ghana’s First President Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to visit the community.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM/Kojo Ansah
