<<Print>>

Ms Joan Eleeza, the Volta Regional Public Health Nurse, (VRPHN) has reiterated the call on men to encourage women to practice safe family planning to improve the wellbeing of the family.

She said though the number of women practising family planning was appreciating in the Region, the Region still had a disturbing figure of women who had lost their lives through unsafe abortions, some of whom were teenagers.

Ms Eleeza was speaking at the Volta Regional Coordinating Council and Regional Health Directorate Family Planning Performance and Review Conference, in Ho.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which funded the programme, has a target of enrolling 40 per cent of unmarried women and 30 per cent of married women unto the Family Planning programme by 2030.

Ms Eleeza said the myths and misconceptions coupled with unavailability of some of the methods made reaching the women, especially those in ‘hard to reach areas’ challenging.

She said the Directorate was targeting sexually active adolescent to practice family planning methods although their “first line of treatment” was abstinence because adolescents were a source of worry to the society.

Ms Eleeza complained about the poor commitment to adolescent health and reproduction in the country and said her outfit was building the capacity of the service providers to make them accessible to adolescents.

Experts say an estimated 225 million in developing countries would like to delay or stop child bearing but they are not using any contraceptives.