Reigning Upper East Music Awards Artiste of the Year, Rockcity has advised young people in the country to resort to the use of contraceptives or other birth control methods including the withdrawal method when engaging in sexual intercourse to curb the increasing cases of teenage pregnancy.
Reacting to statistics on teenage pregnancies over the years, the music group called on the Ghanaian youth to be on guard and use contraceptives and other available birth control methods to curb the menace.
“Condom is not expensive, so why are you still having sex without protection? You can also resort to the withdrawal method if condom isn’t available. Be on guard!” the group said on Facebook.
The music group’s advice follows concerns over the rising incidents of teenage pregnancy in the country. Latest statistical report on teenage pregnancies indicated that there has been a sharp rise in incidents of teenage pregnancy over the past four years particularly in 2020.
Between 2016 and 2020, the country recorded about 555,575 cases of teenage pregnancy. Of the number, 13,444 are girls between the ages of 10 and 14. The remaining 542,131 are girls between 15 and 19 years.
In 2020 alone, more than 100,000 girls were impregnated within the 10-month Covid-19 induced restrictions, with 2,865 of them under age 15.
Apart from poverty, lack of shelter and other basic amenities, Covid-19 and its accompanying measures, aimed at curbing the pandemic, have contributed significantly to the staggering numbers of teenage pregnancy.
In Upper East Region, the Bongo District where the trio hail from is one of the two districts with high prevalence of teenage pregnancies.
The Acting District Chief Executive, Peter Ayinbisa suggested that the rising incidents of teenage pregnancy in the district could be as result of the drinking water which is believed to have qualities which make men sexually active and women very fertile.
His comments, however, stir controversy nationally.
