In the first half of the year, 330 teenage pregnancies were reported in the Bono Region’s Wenchi municipality.
According to Robert Kwaku Bio, the Municipal head of health services for Wenchi, teenage pregnancy has always been a concern in the Bono Region.
In an interview with Asaase Radio, Mr. Bio stated that although 313 occurrences of teenage pregnancies were registered in 2020, a total of 288 teenage pregnancies were recorded over the same time period in 2021.
“Per the information we have at the directorate, 2020 we had 313 children who were pregnant [adolescent] which is teenage pregnancy and 2021 it came down to 288 and then 2022 it went up to 330, so which means there was additional 42 teenage pregnancy as far as the period under review is concern.”
Mr. Bio expressed concern over the circumstance and blamed lack of parental attention, reckless parenting, and a lack of communication between parents and children for the high number of adolescent pregnancies in the town.
He stated, “We are considering holding a stakeholder gathering [to assist stop the threat].” Most families lack parental care, which contributes to the problem because all of these kids are now old enough to go to school, and once they’re old enough to go to school, basic necessities should be provided.
“We know these adolescents every month have their period, do parents provide sanitary pads for them? These are some of the issues parts from broken homes, peer pressure and the rest, most of we the parents are not responsible as we,” he added.
Kwaku Bio the general public to pitch in and find a long-term solution to the problem of teen pregnancy in the Wenchi Municipality.
