Accra: Stakeholders have been urged to strengthen collaboration and increase investment in adolescent health to curb teenage pregnancy and HIV infections among young people in Ghana.
According to Ghana News Agency, the call follows concerns that more than 19,000 adolescents aged 10 to 19 years were living with HIV in 2024, while young people aged 15 to 24 accounted for about 31 percent of new infections recorded nationwide. Dr. Prosper Akanbong, Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), made the call at the opening of the Fourth National Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) Summit in Accra.
The summit was held on the theme: 'Reducing Teenage Pregnancy and Preventing HIV Among Young People: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.' Dr. Akanbong described adolescent health as a critical national development issue requiring sustained commitment, coordinated action, and increased domestic financing.
He emphasized that Ghana's youthful population presented both an opportunity and a responsibility, noting that more than one-third of the population was between the ages of 10 and 24 years. 'A demographic dividend is not automatic. It must be earned through deliberate investments in health, education, skills development, employment opportunities, and social protection,' he said.
Dr. Akanbong highlighted that national HIV estimates for 2024 indicated that nearly one-third of the 15,290 new infections recorded during the year occurred among young people aged between 15 and 24 years. 'These statistics should concern us all. They are not merely numbers. They represent young people with dreams, ambitions, and enormous potential,' he said.
He attributed teenage pregnancy and HIV among adolescents and young people to factors such as poverty, gender inequality, limited access to information and health services, weak parent-child communication, and harmful social norms. Dr. Akanbong called for a multi-sectoral approach that integrated sexual and reproductive health education, HIV prevention, and youth-friendly services.
He noted, 'Single-issue programmes implemented by one government agency have failed to yield optimum results. A well-coordinated and integrated approach will produce better outcomes for our young people.' Dr. Akanbong also expressed concern about declining donor support for health programmes and called for increased domestic resource mobilisation to sustain adolescent health interventions.
He further mentioned that the GAC, with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), had developed a youth framework to guide HIV interventions and strengthen youth participation in policy dialogue and programme implementation.
Dr. Chris Opoku Fofie, Deputy Director of Reproductive and Child Health at the Family Health Division of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), who represented the Director-General of the GHS, Dr. Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, commented that adolescents aged 10 to 19 years constituted about 22 percent of Ghana's population.
He noted that one out of every 10 adolescent girls and one out of every seven adolescent boys engaged in sexual intercourse before the age of 15 years. Dr. Fofie highlighted that the unmet need for family planning among sexually active adolescents remained high at 51 percent, while adolescent pregnancy rates had stagnated at about 10 percent in recent years.
Despite the challenges, he remarked that 76 percent of secondary school-age adolescents were enrolled in school. 'This provides a powerful platform to equip young people with the knowledge, skills, and values they need to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health,' he said.
Dr. Fofie reaffirmed the commitment of the Ghana Health Service to working with stakeholders to improve adolescent health outcomes. 'The health and well-being of our adolescents is not just a health issue; it is a national priority and a moral obligation,' he stated.
Mrs. Angelina Osei Kodua-Nyanor, Acting Executive Director of the National Population Council (NPC), pointed out that Ghana's development aspirations would depend largely on investments in the health, education, and empowerment of its young population. She cited findings from the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, which showed that about 15 percent of young women aged between 15 and 19 years had experienced pregnancy.
Mrs. Kodua-Nyanor described teenage pregnancy and HIV as development challenges with implications for education, labour force participation, productivity, gender equality, and poverty reduction. 'Young people are not simply beneficiaries of development programmes; they are partners in development and agents of change,' she said.
She urged stakeholders to prioritize youth participation, sustainable financing, technology and innovation, and stronger partnerships. The two-day summit is discussing strategies to strengthen adolescent sexual and reproductive health programmes, expand access to information and services, promote sustainable financing, and accelerate progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.