Stakeholders in the health, education and parents have been urged to show commitment to providing sexual education to the young ones in the northern region.
This is to ensure that young people from rural, urban and peri-urban areas do not rely on their friends for sex information.
The Director of Northern Sector Action on Awareness Center (NORSSAC), Alhassan Mohammed Awal stated this at a national conference to launch a research report on young people sexual behaviors and knowledge in Tamale.
The report which covers six districts in the northern region reveals that about 13 percent of young girls aged 19 and 20 say they want children at their first sex. The report further indicates that 25 respondents had more than one abortion.
The situation according to Mr. Awal is worrying and called for concerted effort by stakeholders to avert the problem among young girls in the region.
He said in spite of government and Non Governmental Organizations interventions to improve reproductive health in Ghana, the problem still persists.
The report also indicates that the northern region records the highest teenage pregnancy rate of 23 percent compare to Greater Accra region with 6.6 percent in 2008, according to the Ghana demographic living survey (GDHS).
Some participants at the conference expressed worry about young people disregarding health authorities’ advice on the use of contraceptives which they say could have prevented the situation.
The research forms part of NORSSAC’s innovative Sexual Project in collaboration with Danish partners AXIS with funding from DANIDA.
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