The Department of Community Development and Social Welfare of the Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly (EKMA) has sensitised students within the municipality on issues of teenage pregnancy and illegal abortions.
Madam Alimatu Sadia Abubakari, a Senior Social Welfare and Community Development Officer of EKMA, who presented on the socio-cultural and economic effects of early pregnancy particularly on the girl child, prayed that they rather focused on their studies to become more responsible contributors to family life later in life.
In the municipality, she noted that teenage pregnancy was gradually becoming a matter of concern amongst dwellers of Kwesimintsim and Apremdo areas.
Mr. John Afful, an officer from Marie Stopes International, engaged the students on the effects of teenage pregnancy, such as obstetric fistula, giving birth to under weight babies, still birth, school drop-out and the risk of contracting Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) among other things.
He mentioned that students ought to desist from sexually related activities, adding that they stood the risk of contracting STDs should they get involved in such activities.
Mr. Afful advised the students to treat any suspected case of candidacies and make their reproductive health a priority.
The students were therefore urged to abstain from premarital sex that might lead to unwanted pregnancies and later lead to illegal abortions.
GNA
JP/KOA/AD
Feb. 22,2024
