Twenty cases of unsafe abortions were reported in the Sunyani West municipality of the Bono Region in 2019, according to the Municipal Health Directorate.
The cases were reported at Chiraa, Fiapre, Odumase and Nsoatre among girls between 12 and 18 years, but no death was recorded.
Mrs Mary Ayobi, the Municipal Health Promotion Officer, revealed these to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview , on the sideline of the 2019 Annual Review Meeting of the Municipal Health Directorate, on Thursday.
She said the directorate has established 22 adolescent health clubs in basic schools in the municipality, to provide information and education on sexual reproductive health care for students, but indicated that the lack of funding was affecting the smooth running of the clubs.
She said a club has only been established at the Notre Dame Girls Senior High School (SHS) at Fiapre, and expressed the hope that with support, another one would be set up at Odumaseman SHS, to provide students with active sex education programmes.
Mrs Roseline Antwi, the Municipal Public Health Nurse, said teenage pregnancy remained a huge challenge in the municipality.
The municipality recorded 115 cases of teenage pregnancy in 2018 and 125 cases in 2019, she said, and advised adolescent boys and girls to use condoms to protect themselves.
She said the use of condoms has proven effective in controling teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.
Mr Richard Kwasi Henneh, the Municipal Director of Health Services, said the outfit achieved huge success in disease control and prevention in 2019, and commended the health workers for their hard work.
He expressed worry about refusal of some of the health workers, particularly nurses, to serve in rural areas, and pleaded with them to accept posting to those areas where their services were needed most.
Mr Henneh said elephantiasis was endemic and a serious health problem in the area, and appealed to residents to sleep under mosquito treated nets. – GNA
