News
Teenage Pregnancy: Akatsi South among top 3 in Volta under 2024 half-year review
Statistics from the Akatsi South Municipal Health Directorate showed that the Municipality is among the top three Districts to have recorded increasing cases of Teenage Pregnancy for the 2024 half-year health performance review.
The figures saw Anloga District leading the chart with 15.3 per cent, whilst South Dayi and Akatsi South were joint second, recording an equal percentage of 15.0 per cent with South Tongu holding the fourth position.
This was made known during a half-year health performance review by health officials from the Akatsi South Municipal Health Directorate.
The figures further indicated some Districts in the region that have recorded some rise in cases relating to teenage pregnancy.
These are, Agotime Ziope 14.5, Central Tongu 14.4, Adaklu 13.6, Ketu South 13.4, Keta 13.2, Ketu North 13.07, and North Tongu, registering 11.4 per cent in that order.
However, the data also highlighted a few Districts that have recorded percentages ranging from 11.0 to 5.52 in that trend.
These are Kpando 11.0, Hohoe 10.91, Akatsi North 9.76, Ho West 9.3, North Dayi 9.28, Ho 7.69, and lastly, Afadjato South 5.52 per cent, respectively.
On Maternal health services, the Directorate, however, recorded a decrease in Antenatal care (ANC) registrants by 55.2 per cent in 2024 as compared to 60.3 between January to June 2023.
The review also highlighted a total number of 14 deliveries in 2023 under the ages of 10 to 14 years as compared to 6 in 2024, whilst 182 deliveries were recorded in 2023 as compared to 163 for girls between 15 to 19 years, representing 17 and 16 per cent, respectively for the period under review.
Further checks by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) also revealed that the Akatsi South Municipality has placed second after Central Tongu District, which recorded the highest teenage pregnancy cases, followed by Agotime-Ziope in 2023.
The Alarming situation, according to Mrs Justine Sefakor Alornyo, the Akatsi South Municipal Director of Health Services, required all stakeholders to rise to the task by ensuring pragmatic measures were put in place. On their part, she revealed that the Directorate would do everything possible to mitigate the challenge.
“We are doing community education as well as engaging the media platforms to fight the situation,” she said.
Mrs Alornyo also stated that her outfit had introduced a project dubbed ‘School Health Services’ in the Municipality, where adolescent boys and girls were educated on their health issues.
The trend, according to some stakeholders, who are members of a constituted Risk Communication and Social Mobilisation Sub-Committee (RC &SMC) members under the watch of the Health Directorate, pledged to offer their support by engaging the various communities through educational activities on the canker.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest adolescent birth rate of 97.9 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19 years. In Western and Central Africa and Eastern and Southern Africa, around 25 per cent of adolescent girls and young women gave birth before age 18. – GNA
News
Craze for x’mas shopping: Crowded markets, low patronage
Vendors of food and other wares associated with the Christmas celebration have expressed surprise at the low patronage despite the increased number of visitors to some of the major markets across the capital.
Four days to the celebration(Christmas), the markets are filled with various products ranging from food, clothing, livestock and many other stuff, but according to the vendors, patrons are doing more ‘window’ shopping.
The Spectator on visits to some of the markets in the capital, notably the Odawna, Makola, Accra Central Business District, New Town and others made similar observations as shoppers crowd them but did little in terms of purchases.
The paper also observed that majority of vendors, originally selling other wares have switched to product related to the festive season.
What it means is that there are a lot more clothes, food and vegetables, livestock and poultry, toys, firecrackers, drinks of different types and many others on display.
The markets have also stretched to the pedestrian pavement, leaving very narrow spaces for commuters to move about freely.
That, in addition to a few of the female vendors dressed in coloured attires to reflect the occasion, has heightened the euphoria, leaving the low sales as the only headache for the vendors.
Speaking with this paper, they sounded very optimistic, believing that sales would improve in the last few days to the yuletide.
According to them, there was the opportunity to sell beyond Christmas as the New Year celebration offers similar opportunity to trade the same wares.
They urged patrons to throng the markets to shop since prices were quite moderate and products affordable for all.
News
Retirement service for Elder John Ackom-Asante,3 others
Retired Deputy Editor of The Spectator, Elder John Ackom-Asante, was last Sunday honoured by the Church of Pentecost Windy Hills District in Kasoa in the Central Region, with a retirement thanksgiving service, after serving for 26 year as an Elder of the church.
He was honoured with a citation and certificate of service along with three other elders who served in the capacity for various years.
Elder Ackom-Asante was baptised at the Darkuman Central Assembly in 1979 and ordained as an Elder in 1997.
The citation read “Your selfless service, zeal, willingness to relate wholeheartedly and your desire to effect change has gone a long way to shape the lives of many people in the church and the nation over the 26 years of your dedication to the service of the Lord.”
Elder Ackom- Asante held many positions at the Darkuman Central Assembly, Obuasi in the Ashanti Region and Tema, serving in various capacities as youth and evangelism ministry leader and marriage counsellor.
He was the founding member of the Darkuman Christian Fellowship, a member of the Greater Accra Christian Fellowship; member of Bible Society of Ghana; founding member Obuasi Chapter Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship International and founding member of New Times Corporation Christian Fellowship and Chaplain, Methodist University Tema Campus 2009- 2010.
As a professional journalist, Elder Ackom-Asante combined effectively and efficiently his duty as a member and elder of the church and the demands of his profession, with admiration from the church, kith and kin, till his retirement on December
From Alhaji Salifu Abdul-Rahaman, Kasoa
