Source: newsthemegh.com
Ghana missed its 2022 goal of reducing teenage pregnancy, according to the most recent data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
In its Health Sector Development Plan for 2022 to 2025, the government set a teenage pregnancy target of 12% for 2022, a significant drop from the 14% reported in 2014. However, the GSS discovered that in 2022, the proportion of teenage pregnancies increased to 15.2%.
Professor Samuel Kwabena Anim, a government statistician, gave a presentation on the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey on June 5, 2023 at the Windy Lodge Hotel, Beach Site in Winneba, Central Region.
He said, “If you go into the Health Sector Development Plan, you’ll see a target of 12.0%,” and added, “Nationally, we are seeing 15.2% [per the] 2022 demographic and health survey. You can see that we are 3.2% points off the target at the national level.
The degree to which we are missing the mark at the regional level is more worrisome. At the regional level, we pinpoint six areas that notably deviate from the 15.2% national norm. This indicates that even while we are [usually] off the objective at the national level, there are still some regions that are further off the target at the regional level. If we are serious about achieving our national aim, we need to have this kind of reflection, the speaker added.
The government statistician told the press that the difference between the area with the greatest rate of teenage pregnancy and the lowest rate was between 25.9% and 6.0%.
“Then we look at the drivers,” he continued. According to the research we’ve seen, the key factors contributing to teen pregnancy are home affluence and education levels.
“We see significant differences between teenagers with no education having a rate of 24.3% and those with secondary or more having a rate of 12.5% as those being pregnant,” he added. And you observe a difference between individuals with no education and those with at least a secondary education of nearly twice as much.
In addition, the Savannah region had the highest rate of teenage pregnancies (25.9%), while Greater Accra had the lowest prevalence (6.0%), according to the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey.
The rates in the other 5 regions—Ashanti (23.9%), North East (23.5%), Bono East (22.3%), Oti (21.1%), and Western North (18.9%)—were higher than the national average.