GHANA TO HOST ADOLESCENT REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SUMMIT

Ghana will host the 2nd National Adolescent Reproductive Health (ARH) Summit in August, this year, in Accra.

About 300 participants are attending the two-day conference, which is taking place on the theme: Effective Population Management through Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health Financing Beyond Aid.

 The ARH Summit will, among other things, review the progress of implementation of the ARH policy and programmes, build consensus and advocate for technical and financial support for ARH programming in the country towards reaping demographic dividend.

The Summit aims to show the linkage between effective population management and Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (ASRHR); provide platforms for partners to share knowledge and lessons on the implementation of SRHR across the country to help improve ASRHR policy, programming and advocacy; promote young peoples’ ideas and innovations in population management and SRHR; and to explore sustainable financing for ASRHR beyond donor funding.

According to a release issued by the organizers of the Summit, abstracts are, therefore, being invited from interested individuals and organisations for oral and poster presentations. The presentations will cover executed/on going research or project initiative(s) carried out by the applicant/organization.

Topics to be discussed at the Summit, the release said, include Population Dynamics and Basic Demographic Concepts (Population and Development Interlinkages); Adolescent SRHR Investment and Sustainable Financing; Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE); and Adolescent SRHR Advocacy.

The others are Adolescent SRHR Policies; the Media and ASRHR; ASRHR in the Digital Era; and Adolescent Friendly Service Delivery.

ARH Summit 2018 is being organized by the National Population Council, with support from the Marie Stopes International, Ghana, and state and civil society partners.

The National population Council (NPC) was established in 1992 and subsequently given legal backing under the National Population Council Act, 1994 (Act 485) as the highest advisory body to the Government of Ghana on all population and related issues through advocacy and effective co-ordination of the implementation of all population policies and programmes.

NPC was also established in response to Article 37 of the 1992 Republican Constitution of Ghana which states “The state shall maintain a population policy consistent with the aspirations and development needs, and objectives of Ghana.”

In 1994, the Government of Ghana adopted its second National Population Policy with the objective, among others, of providing the population with the necessary information and education on the value of a small family size, specifically, and sexual, and reproductive health, in general.

The vision requires the commitment of all sections of the country’s population, especially men, who are often the decision-makers on family size and the livelihood of families, the clergy, traditional authorities and state institution.

On the other hand, Marie Stopes Ghana began providing contraception and safe abortion services in 2007 and has since become one of the country’s most trusted providers, helping more than 115,000 women each year to choose when they have children.

Marie Stopes Ghana operates in every single region of the country, delivering services and information to the country’s underserved communities in a number of different ways:

It has nine clinics in urban areas, six rural outreach teams, two urban outreach teams, 136 private healthcare providers, operating under our Blue Star social franchise brand, a social marketing of contraception; and a call centre that provides information and referrals.

The first ARH Summit— inaugural event—which took place from April 19 to April 21, 2016 discussed the current research surrounding reproductive and sexual health, including clinical research and the development of treatment.

 

Source: ISD (G.D. Zaney, Esq.)

Family planning is a human right: an imperative to sustainable economic development

 “Every second, every day, every year, we fail to address demand for reproductive health and family planning services. Lives are lost, and girls’ opportunities to thrive and contribute to their country’s development shrink………..”-Jenny Shipley.

I am so excited to be getting married in a few months to come. In preparation towards having a blissful marriage, I ensure not to absent myself from any marriage seminar within my reach. In one of these seminars, I recollect vividly the speaker advising couples and yet-to-be couples to always plan their families, as it was essential for proper growth of the women and children amidst other benefits that comes with it.

Last Friday, I visited my grandmother who happens to be ninety-five years old. After exchanging pleasantries with her, I told her about my impending marriage and my thoughts of going in for family planning. Lo and behold, to my uttermost surprise, she disagreed vehemently adding that family planning was committing murder and asked why I wanted to reduce the number of children God wanted to give me.

That was when I realized that a lot has gone under the bridge and more needs to be done in educating the public on what at all family planning is and its benefits to the individual, society, and nation as a whole. It’s quite unfortunate that most Ghanaians in our modern era of civilization have embellished in their minds the same perceptions as my grandma.

The question I can’t stop myself from asking is: aren’t such Ghanaians aware that family planning is a human right and an imperative to sustainable economic development?

What Is Family Planning?

Family planning is a method of controlling the number of children one would want to have and the intervals between their births. Family planning includes the timing, spacing and limiting of pregnancy. It also includes the age at which one wishes to give birth. Family planning methods may involve the use of contraceptives, sex education and voluntary sterilization.

Often, young people are considered not old enough to use services and facilities that offer family planning, or they simply do not know that such services exist for them. However; the service applies to all women in their reproductive years (age 15-49). Due to the stress and sacrifices women have to go through during pregnancy and the subsequent responsibilities of motherhood, there is the need for women especially career women to plan the birth of their children.

 

This is because; no employer would want to give a woman three maternity leaves in five years which might reduce productivity and development and consequently lead to a lay-off. Proper planning and consideration, therefore, needs to be taken by career women only if they want to keep their jobs. Young girls who also do not want to abstain from sex must also know about family planning so as to avoid unwanted pregnancies and illegal abortions.

Family Planning as a Human Right

 

According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), “family planning is not a privilege, but a right. Everybody in the world should have access to contraception. By simply helping women space and limit the number of children will add billions of dollars to the world economy improve global health, increase women’s education (which in turn boosts economic output) and save lives”.

 

Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.

Universal human rights are often expressed and guaranteed by law, in the forms of treaties, customary international law, general principles and other sources of international law. International human rights law lays down obligations of Governments to act in certain ways or to refrain from certain acts, in order to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or groups. Family planning is central to gender equality and women’s empowerment, and it is a key factor in reducing poverty

The Government and Family Planning

There are no legal and constitutional provisions of family planning in Ghana. However, various national policies and strategy plans have addressed the topic of family planning. In Ghana, government support of family planning programmes began in 1969. Some of the major programme initiatives are the Contraceptive Social Marketing project (1987-1990), the Ghana Family Planning and Health Programme (FPHP) (1990-1996), and the Ghana Population and AIDS Project (GHANAPA) (1996-2000).

Family planning is also an important opportunity for identifying and managing other reproductive health problems, including STI/HIV/AIDS. As such, there has been deliberate efforts to train providers of family planning services in the management of STIs (counseling, diagnosis, and treatment/provision of drugs) using syndromic management over the years.

In 1994, the Ghana National Population Council introduced “The Ghana National Population Policy of 1994” which includes the following objectives:

  • To reduce the total fertility rate to 4.0 by 2010 and to 3.0 by 2020
  • To increase the modern contraceptive prevalence rate to 28percentby 2010 and to 50 percent by 2020
  • To achieve a minimum birth spacing of at least two years for all births by 2020. Revisions were made to the National Population Policy in 1994 which primarily focused on better integrating rural families who migrate to urbancenters, ensuring that family planning methods are accessible, and educating the community on population issues. The National Population Policy specifically outlined targets on fertility and contraceptive use.

Also in 1969, Ghana was the second African country to promulgate a policy supporting family planning, namely the policy paper “Population Planning for National Progress and Prosperity”. Further in 1969, the Ghanaian government conducted a large education campaign on family planning. The country’s first population policy of 1969 was followed by the establishment of the Ghana National Family Planning Programme (GNFPP) in 1970. The program was launched to implement the population policy through the use of existing governmental agencies.

In 2005, another comprehensive strategy, “A Road Map for Repositioning Family Planning in Ghana (2006-2010)” was developed. This national policy sought to improve family planning services into the various service components of reproductive health in Ghana within a five-year period by calling for an increase in: political commitment, public awareness and acceptance of family planning as important to national health and socio-economic development, and funding for family planning commodities and services.

In 2010, “Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda” was established between 2010 and 2013, which recognized family planning as a top priority for inclusion in national development plans and activities at all levels. This was followed by “Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda II” from 2014 to 2017 which focused on describing health service delivery intent and focusing on HIV, STI and family planning in Ghana.

The current policy is “Ghana Family Planning Costed Implementation Plan 2016-2020” (GFCIP). GFPCIP’s main objectives are to increase the use of contraceptives among married women to 30% and unmarried women to 40% by 2020. Ghana plans to implement this change through the financial resources of development partners amounting to $235 million (USD) between 2016 and 2020, to invest in community education, maternal and infant health care, infrastructure, and contraceptives and family planning counsel.

Family Planning and Economic Development

Economic development is the growth of the standard of living of a nation’s people from a low-income (poor) country to a high-income (rich) economy. When the local quality of life is improved, there is more economic development. Ghana has a high rate of population growth but unfortunately with few resources to cater, educate and feed the many people being born into the country.

The population of Ghana was 6.7 million in 1960; 8.6 million in 1970, in 1984 the population increased to 12.3 million people; the population grew to 18.9 in 2000 and went up to 24.51 in 2010. The total population of Ghana has multiplied over 4times to approximately 29 million as of 2017. However, in that same 1960, Spain had a population of about 30.5 and in 2017, their population was estimated to be about 46.4 million.

Comparing Spain to Ghana, it remains an undeniable fact that we have a high population growth depending on the very few resources the nation has which is obviously one of the many reasons why our country continues to sink in poverty. An estimated 38.8 per cent of the population is made up of the youth according to the Ghana Statistical Services.

We live in a country where access to quality healthcare and education is nothing good to write home about, the youth are not equipped with skills, our streets filled with street children and last but not least, the discussion of sex related issues forbidden in many homes even in this modern era, how do we progress then as a country?

Our youth especially the females lack knowledge on family planning and have been entangled by religion and traditional beliefs while we continue to rot in poverty and ignorance. It is disheartening to know that family planning programmes in resource-poor settings are usually fragile, show signs of poor performance and are both dependent on international funding and constrained by existing policies or lack thereof. However, it is exactly in those settings where family planning programmes are most needed if our country’s aim is to reduce inequalities in health, reduce maternal and child mortality rates, alleviate poverty and foster economic development.

Conclusion

The National Population Council (NPC) was established in 1992 and subsequently given legal backing under the National Population Council Act, 1994, Act 485, as the highest advisory body to the Government of Ghana on all population and related issues through advocacy and effective coordination of the implementation of all population policies and programmes. The establishment of the National Population Council was also in response to Article 37(4) of the 1992 Constitution, which states that: “The State shall maintain a population policy consistent with the aspirations and development needs and objectives of Ghana”.

In order to provide an improved quality of life for Ghanaians, the National Population Council was established as a statutory body mandated to coordinate, monitor and evaluate all population programmes in the country as well as conduct or commission research into existing and emerging population n issues of which family planning issues are dominant.

Despite masses of advocacies by the Council to fulfill its vision and mandate, it has been faced with numerous constraints. Notable amongst such constraints include inadequate financial support from all stakeholders across the country, logistical constrains, human resource among other various challenges.

The population of any Nation is its most valuable resource thus the need for all stakeholders, international agencies, the media, our religious organizations, various institutions, health organizations, political groups, parents and all to join hands with the government to develop the country through population management. Ghana is not an island, we are evolving with the world hence the need to be at pace with the world’s economic development through improved family planning and population management. This is our priceless home, let’s make it worth living.

Writers’ details: 0244805025 del77sly@yahoo.co.uk/ pkesewaa@gmail.com

Teenage pregnancy and child marriage; effects on sustainable national development

Being the first born of six siblings, I have experienced the popular adage of “leave it for the little ones to enjoy”. I kept asking myself, cant I also enjoy? Then the truth dawned on me, I can’t enjoy alongside my little siblings because my parents are not affluent and can’t provide for us all adequately. Well, how can I complain when my mother was pushed into child marriage and got pregnant as a teenager?

The Challenge of child marriage and teenage pregnancy have over the years been a canker which various governments who assumed office try to fight. In 1960, the total population of Ghana was about 6.7 million but has multiplied over four times to 29 million as of 2017.

However, in that same 1960, Spain had a population of about 30.5 and in 2017 their population was estimated to be around 46.4 million. Comparing Spain to Ghana, it is an undeniable fact that we have high rate of population growth. Now the question is: what has triggered high growth of population in this country?

In Today’s Ghana, it is popular to find young girls between the ages of 12-18 pregnant and loitering about the streets. While some struggle to make themselves productive by selling water, toffees, handkerchiefs, bread, dusters and others in dangerous traffic situations, the rest hide in their rooms out of shame and fear of public ridicule.


Ghana, all over Africa is known to be one of the many African countries engulfed in low education literacy, poverty both at regional and national levels, rate of unemployment and high mortality and morbidity if sky rocketing all in the name of child marriages and teenage pregnancies which is has brought such avoidable repercussions.

Teenage pregnancy and child marriage are cankers eating deep into the country’s coffers and contribute to large family sizes, which in turn increases consumption and reduce savings at both the family and National level thereby hindering National Development.

It should be noted that the calibre of people being discussed here are not of the working class so therefore, are not productive and hence do not contribute to the Family or national development in any way but rather create burdensome situation for family and the Nation at large.

If a large number of the population who do not belong to the productive class are dependent on the few working classes, how will our economy be stable when there is an imbalance between dependent population and working population? Gone are the days when the quantity of children one had, determines ones strength.


Today, to better our Nation, the best we can do is to make education the pillar for effective productivity from the younger population who are the future generation. With a sizeable population growth, we could increase our GDP, life expectancy, decrease access to health services, water and electricity.

We all need to be involved in fighting these cankers and the media, traditional authorities, religious leaders, parliamentarians, private sector, politicians, NGO’s and all must hold forces together to ensure that the vision of a sustained quality of life for all Ghanaians to see the light of day.

 

The writer is an officer of the Information Services Department (ISD) and the Head of Public Relations- National Population Council.

Young actors trained in reproductive health

Developed by the NPC as part of a multi-media campaign for adolescents, YOLO is a component of the Ghana Adolescent Reproductive Health (GHARH) programme being implemented by the Palladium Group with support from the UK Government.

 

The National Population Council (NPC) had held a two-day workshop to build the capacity of the cast of a television series that promote adolescent sexuality and rights, to be role models and ambassadors in their localities.

The cast, who are themselves young persons star in the YOLO (You only live once) television series that seeks to increase young people’s access to appropriate health information and health services by enhancing the social, legal and cultural environment for the improvement of young people’s reproductive health.

Developed by the NPC as part of a multi-media campaign for adolescents, YOLO is a component of the Ghana Adolescent Reproductive Health (GHARH) programme being implemented by the Palladium Group with support from the UK Government.

Addressing the workshop participants, Dr Leticia Adelaide Appiah, Executive Director of the NPC said adolescence is a period of transition therefore there is the need for innovative campaigns like the YOLO TV Series which provides the platform for information sharing on reproductive health issues, hygiene and behaviour change.

She said the capacity-strengthening workshop was also to encourage the cast to strive to transmit Sexual and Reproductive Health and day-to-day health messages to young people all over the country.

Dr Appiah noted that just like all societies, Ghana has to prepare its young people into adulthood.

“Whether it is done formally or informally, consciously or unconsciously, a considerable amount of effort is needed for this task. All the major players, family, religious organisations, educational system, political leaders, employment opportunities, recreational facilities, community and social institutions are required to devote varying amount of time and resources to the socialisation of new comers,” she stated.

The traditional agencies of socialisation especially family, school, church and community should also have the task to transmit the core values of respect, good manners, honesty integrity and discipline since no society can develop or survive without these values, Dr Appiah added.

According to the 2014 Demographic Health Survey (DHS) 14 per cent of teenagers 15-19 in the country were either mothers or pregnant at the time of the survey, Dr Appiah emphasised.

She explained that the YOLO series has two target groups. “The primary target are those between the ages of 10 to 19 years and young people who are sexually active and require information to protect themselves from their risky lifestyle as well as others who face challenges bothering on peer pressure, cultural practices including early and forced marriages, unplanned pregnancies, and abortion.”

The secondary targets, she added, are parents, guardians, the extended family, and stakeholders with interest in youth development at policy level, policy and decision- makers, community and opinion leaders and the media.

Reproduction project
Dr. Appiah said the GHARH is a three-year programme being piloted in all twenty-seven districts of the Brong Ahafo region and  some parts of the Ashanti region

It aimed at building Government’s capacity in the delivery of adolescent reproductive health programmes while also generating evidence that will allow the scale up of cost effective adolescent reproductive health interventions in the country.

As part of the GHARH project implementation, the National Population Council (NPC) contracted Farm House Production to develop a multi-media campaign for adolescents in Ghana called YOLO, she expanded.

“Farmhouse production was contracted since they has prior experience as the production house which developed “Things We Do for Love’’ – an old drama series developed around the late nineties to entertain and educate young people on sexual and reproductive health issues.”

YOLO
Palladium has adopted a comprehensive approach in the use of social media as a tool to educate adolescents on sexual reproductive health and a chat platform has also been developed for discussions on YOLO in schools.

More so, there is also going to be a voice over to be done in Twi for YOLO seasons one and two in schools.

The season one, two and three of the TV Series have been viewed on YouTube about three million times and out of this sixty per cent of the views are from Ghana with the remaining forty per cent spread across the world.

NPC: Ghana’s annual population growth alarming

Dr. Leticia Appiah

Ghana’s annual population growth is alarming, the National Population Council (NPC) has noted.

According to the Council, the country for the past three decades has grown its population by 2.5 per cent yearly, which translates into between 700,000 and 800,000.

This rate is more than the global target of annual population growth of 1.5 per cent, which engenders optimal development, the Council stated.

The Executive Director of the NPC, Dr Leticia Appiah at Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) sitting in Accra yesterday, said a population of 27 million people growing at 2.5 was “alarming” and that there was the need for the country’s rate of population to be controlled.

She honoured the invitation of the committee to answer questions related to their performance and financial audit report of the Auditor-General for the year ended 31st December 2015 on Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Dr Appiah said the structure of Ghana’s population is not properly placed as the dependent group of zero to 15 years hovers around 41 per cent of the total population of the country, a situation she said was “scary.”

“For population, the most important thing is the structure…we are a very youthful population and that accounts for much of our expenditure,” she said.

Asked of her advice for couples as part of what could be done to control the country’s growth, Dr Appiah said the focus on making babies should be on quality.

“We should have a number of children we can comfortably take care of, we should have standards for who a Ghanaian is and we should have quality human resource and it is only then that economic development will be achieved,” she stated.

Pregnancies above four, she said were risky though there were exceptions to every rule, and that it was important that parents adequately spaced births to give optimal health to both the mother and the child.

“For me, I wasn’t too surprised that we went to the Olympic games and didn’t get any medal because we have a document that says that 37 per cent of Ghanaians were stunted as children.

“This means we were malnourished and if you are malnourished, it’s very difficult to compete against somebody who is fully nourished and win any medals against them,” she said to loud laughs by members on the committee.

“Why is it that those who give us money from global fund have two children and we those who go for money from them have ten?

“Because they have two, they can afford to save and give us some but because we have ten, we just spend on food, clothing, schools…. and that is why we keep constructing more schools and hospitals,” Dr Appiah said.

Of the world’s estimated 7.5 billion people by the United Nations in April this year, Asia has 4.4 billion, Africa controls 1.2 billion, Europe, 738.8 million, North America 579 million, South America, 422 million and Australia 39.9 million.

NPC trains youth as adolescent health ambassadors

Some of the cast at the workshop

The cast of a television series, ‘You only Live Once’ (YOLO), which promotes adolescent development and health rights, have been urged to be worthy ambassadors to young people in the country.

Addressing the cast at a capacity building workshop organised by the National Population Council (NPC), Ms Efua Prah of the Palladium Group said with the popularity gained by the young stars, other young people who have come to admire them will look up to them.

She therefore advised the stars to strive to exhibit good behaviour and also be well informed on adolescent development issues so that they can be helpful to young people who approach them for information.

Ms Pra also called on them to acquire leadership skills, as that will help them in their new role as ambassadors.

Innovative campaign
The Executive Director of NPC, Dr Leticia Adelaide Appiah, noted that the YOLO television series is an innovative campaign which provides the platform for information sharing on reproductive health issues, hygiene and behaviour change.

It was developed by the NPC as part of the Ghana Adolescent Reproductive Health (GHARH) programme being piloted in the Brong Ahafo region with the support of the UK Government, she said.

Dr Appiah indicated that the programme would embark on a community sensitisation with the YOLO cast in Kumasi next month.

She further said season four of the series will soon be aired, while a voice over of the season one and two series, in Twi, will be developed for schools in the Brong Ahafo and Ashanti regions.

In addition, she stated, the cast will be invited for panel discussions when necessary.

Good examples
The workshop participants expressed their preparedness to be good examples for their peers. They were particularly grateful for the opportunity to enhance their knowledge in adolescent development and health right

Men’s role in quality family life crucial— Discussants at Male Conference

Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa

 

Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, a Commissioner of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), has called on men to be involved in family planning and women empowerment issues for the country to reap the demographic dividend.

Opening the first ever-male conference in Ghana, organised by the National Population Council (NPC), Prof. Akosa said men played a dominant role in decision-making so they should drive the agenda to improve the quality of life.

The conference had “The Role of Men in Sustaining Quality Life for All: A driving Force in National Development” as its theme and aimed at creating a platform for stakeholders to leverage the significant role of men in families to support quality family life.

Population policy
Prof. Akosa said in 1994 the government adopted its second National Population policy with the objective to provide the population with the necessary information and education on the value of a small family size, specifically, and the sexual and reproductive health, in general.

That, he said, was in line with efforts to improve and sustain the quality of life of the people of Ghana and that required the commitment of all sections of the country’s population, especially men, who were often the decision makers of family sizes and the use of contraceptives.

Prof. Akosa reiterated that the revised edition of the 1994 population policy recognised the significant role of men in family welfare and provided several strategies to increase awareness among men of their responsibility for the adequate care of their families.

Health discourse

He stated that including men in the reproductive health discourse had been incorporated in global agreements such as the International Conference of Population and the development, which recognised the role of men.

In a welcome address, Dr Leticia Adelaide Appiah, the Executive Director of the National Population Council, indicated that the conference sought to scrutinise the role and contribution of men in the attainment of national development.

Dr Appiah said the 2010 Ghana Population and Housing Census revealed males constituted almost 49 per cent of the total population but played a dominant role in decision-making.

The Executive Director indicated that the male conference sought to increase awareness among men of their responsibility for the adequate care of their families and in the reproductive health discourse.

She expressed the hope that the end of the conference would have built consensus on how to maximise the utilisation of limited resources for Family Planning programming in the country.

Role of men
For his part, a playwright and motivational speaker, Mr Ebo Whyte, urged men to redefine their roles in the society by shifting from being ceremonial heads to becoming more responsible family heads.

Mr Abubakar Manu of the School of Public Health, University of Ghana (UG), also said men must create an enabling environment in the home for children to freely ask questions that bothered them.

He noted that adolescents required information and skills, safe and supportive environment, health and counselling services which were vital for their successful transition to adulthood.

Raise awareness on increasing population growth — Rawlings

Former President Rawlings with Dr Leticia Adelaide Appiah (RIGHT) and the head of communication at the National Population Council, Mabel Selassie Awuku.
 

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has called on religious leaders and the media to help raise awareness of the country’s increasing rates in population growth.

According to him, the situation, if not checked, could pose a threat to the country’s socio-economic development. Considering their roles as key actors of change, Mr Rawlings said both religious leaders and the media had significant roles to play in shaping societal beliefs on population control. The former President made the call when the Executive Director of the National Population Council, Dr Leticia Adelaide Appiah, paid a courtesy call on him at his office in Accra. The director briefed Mr Rawlings about the effects of the growing population and reproductive health issues in the country.

Observations
Mr Rawlings noted that the increasing population growth “is as a result of a certain weakness” that must be addressed. He mentioned the lack of discipline and sense of responsibility as some of the factors contributing to the high population growth in the country. According to the former President, the country needed to embark on a serious campaign on family planning. “We could have had a better standard of living if the situation was controlled,” he stated.

Underdevelopment
For her part, Dr Appiah said the increasing population growth could lead to underdevelopment since countries with high population growth rates were often poor.

She added that for the country to make any headway in controlling its population, there was the need to embrace family planning. “We need to talk about manageable population size,” Dr Appiah stated, adding that: “We have to appreciate population management in economic development. “She indicated that one of the key objectives of the population policy was to “educate the youth on population matters which directly affect them, such as sexual relationship, fertility regulation, adolescent health, marriage and child bearing in order to guide them towards responsible parenthood and small family sizes”.

Population policy
Ghana adopted a population policy in 1969 as part of its commitment to implement appropriate strategies and programmes to manage population resources in a manner consistent with the government’s ultimate objective of accelerating the pace of economic modernisation and improving the quality of life of Ghanaians. The 1969 Population Policy was aimed at reducing the country’s high-expected population growth rate, which between 1960 and 1970 was 2.4 per annum with a target of 1.7 by 2000. The policy was, however, revised in 1994 to promote, clarify and sharpen the awareness and understanding among opinion leaders and the public at large of population issues and the implications of rapid population growth. Similarly, it is to ensure that population issues are systematically integrated into all aspects of development planning and activities at various levels of the administrative structure.

Akwamumanhene calls for small family sizes to control growing population

Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III.

The Paramount Chief of the Akwamu Traditional Area, Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III, has called for smaller family sizes as a way to control the country’s growing population.

He said encouraging people to have small family sizes is the way to go, considering the country’s limited resources and the global economy at large.

Odeneho Kwafo Akoto made the remarks at a day’s sensitization workshop organised by the National Population Council (NPC) on population, health and livelihood for the chiefs and people of Akwamu Traditional Area in the Eastern Region.

It was on the theme: “Teenage pregnancy and child marriage, effects on sustainable national development”.

Purpose of sensitization
The main goal of the advocacy workshop is to build alliances among traditional authorities for intervention programmes on family welfare, including family planning, to facilitate the achievement of sustainable development in the country.
The sensitization provided a platform for traditional leaders, opinion leaders and other citizens, including the youth of the Akwamu Traditional Area to deliberate on the development of the area through a measured population structure.
Small family sizes
Odeneho Kwafo Akoto said having small family sizes would help ensure a better society where people can have access to quality lifestyles, including, education, health, and other social services.

He explained that although there is no law restricting people to the number of children they can give birth to, people must only give birth to children they can cater for.

He added that it would be of no essence for people to give birth to children they cannot cater for, hence making such children to become frustrated in life.

Odeneho Kwafo Akoto said children whose parents are unable to cater for their needs always end up on the streets, engaging in all forms of social vices, including armed robbery and prostitution.

Population and development
The Executive Director of the NPC, Dr Leticia Adelaide Appiah, said healthy families are essential for any country as they have a direct impact on human, moral and social capital as well as on resource use.

She said with limited resources, high fertility makes it increasingly difficult for families to adequately feed, clothe, house, educate and provide medical care for children, adding that it also undermines savings.

She explained that high fertility and high population growth rate lead to a decrease per capita income in two ways—“firstly, more consumers divided any given amount of goods and secondly, each worker produces less because there is less capital per worker”.

Dr Appiah, however, said “with manageable family size and population growth, savings increases at the individual levels, translating into national funds for development”.

Role of chiefs
Touching on the workshop, she said traditional leaders and traditional structures are the pivot around which many African communities revolve, hence involving them in population related matters would help achieve the desired results.

“There is a strong link between traditional leadership, ethics and culture, with traditional leaders considered as custodians of culture from one generation to the next”, she said, adding that “they are therefore a key partner in population programmes as they are well placed to work with their communities to improve the quality of life of the people.

A Senior Lecturer from the Department of Population and Health at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Dr Kobina Esia-Donkor, said the government can change the country’s soaring population structure by investing in education and family planning.

He said having large family sizes would only result in financial constraints on both the families and the state at large, hence the need for people to reconsider the number of children they have in relation to their economic abilities.