A recent study that was carried out in three of the top universities in the country revealed the startling finding that 93% of adolescents who engage in sexual activity at public universities do not use contraceptives. This is true despite the fact that 80% of them had little knowledge of problems related to adolescent sexual reproductive health. The study's 675 participants included more than half of those who had intimate associates and engaged in sexual activity.
The study's results are very informative because, as of January 1, 2022, the National Health Insurance Scheme had expanded its services to include free long-term contraceptives. Expanded, free exposure to long-term contraception is also advancing the global goal of Universal Health Coverage by 2030, which enables all people and communities to obtain the health service and care they require without facing financial hardship.
This change may allow thousands of expectant women who already have national health insurance to forgo out-of-pocket expenses for family planning procedures like implants, coils, and injections. It comes after a two-year pilot study that found using long-term contraception and future government savings on immediate care expenses were both increased by including family planning services in health benefits packages.
Nevertheless, Ghana is a country where deeply ingrained cultural standards and structural impediments, such as higher maternal mortality threats, high rates of sexually transmitted infection, and lower contraceptive use rates, perpetuate poor sexual and reproductive health. This action is not being patronized by young people, especially school students. Small contraceptive uptake has negative effects on teen pregnancies, higher rates of childbirth, and an increase in the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections like HIV.
Uterine devices, adult condoms, emergency contraceptive pills, injectable drugs, and implants are a few of the modern contraception methods that young people typically use. To prevent unplanned pregnancies, challenging pregnancies, and sexually transmitted infections in young people, more people need to be aware of contraceptives. According to this study, university administrators and decision-makers do take adolescents' sexual reproductive health into account more.
To create policies and programs that address adolescents' sexual reproductive health needs in public universities, all partners— including parents and guardians— must collaborate. This study's suggestions will help The Daily Graphic help children transition to adulthood if put into practice. We all agree that it is important for universities to implement programs for adolescent sexual reproductive health.
This reminds me of the Comprehensive Sexuality Education( CSE) policy, which was implemented in 2019 but was swiftly rejected by the majority of adults in the nation due to a lack of education. The goal of this policy was to provide children with a wide range of age-appropriate education, including sexual and reproductive biology, gender and sexual reproductive health rights, HIV/ sexually transmitted infection prevention, contraception and unintended births, vulnerabilities and exclusions, and gender-based violence and abuse.
After a thorough stakeholder education was conducted on this policy, The Daily Graphic thinks it is time to revisit it. We also think that in order to give teenagers the knowledge and training they need to make more informed decisions and choices, the problems they are facing have to be taken seriously.
