The National Population Council (NPC) Director of the Ashanti Region, Mercy Adomaa Besseah has called on all Ghanaians to as a matter of concern provide women and girls with much information about family planning.
The move according to her will assist in reducing teenage pregnancies, unwanted pregnancies as well as maternal deaths.
Speaking in an exclusive interview on Oyerepa Breakfast Time, during the World Population Day Celebration today, Friday 29th July 2022, Mercy Besseah indicated that Ghanaians should prioritize the choice of family planning in various societies.
She explained that the region and for that matter, the country’s population is growing faster than its resources therefore there is the need to prioritize the choice of family planning to reduce population growth.
The population Director further stated that girls should be given equal opportunities in terms of the provision of information on family planning to make their own choices.
She added that cultural barriers and religious impediments in Ghanaian societies should not be a hindrance to the passage of quality information on family planning.
“Prioritizing rights and choices means providing all with adequate information and services to enable them to make their own informed decisions and act more efficiently for their own good and the well-being of others. “
Speaking on this year’s World Population Day’s theme; Prioritizing Rights and Choices: Harnessing Opportunities, the Road to a Resilient Future for All’, Mercy Besseah stated that, all manner of people who have knowledge of family planning should be given the mandate to teach women and girls the positive impact on family planning in order for them to make informed decisions.
“Upholding sexual reproductive health and rights is key to ensuring that all people can be equal and free to make decisions in all spheres of their lives, without discrimination, violence or coercion, and with the assurance of their dignity upheld.
It is on this foundation that women and girls, in particular, are reliant if they are to enjoy a life of choices, empowerment and equality, and this involves the right to health throughout the life course inclusive of the right to make choices freely in marriage, family formation and determination of the number, timing and spacing of children. For such rights to be exercised and enjoyed, people – women and young people, in particular, must be supported with quality access to information, services and the means by which they can exercise their voluntary choices. “ She noted.
She said when human rights in sexual and reproductive health are upheld, total claims on the country’s health budget are reduced while economic productivity and growth are stimulated; hence promoting a demographic transition that boosts both economic growth and individual wellbeing.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW BELOW
Source: Oyerepafmonline.com / Joseph Marfo
