The 1989 UNICEF/UNFPA/WHO joint Statement and Strategy for Action on “The Reproductive Health of Adolescents” defines adolescents as people between the ages of 10-19. It terms the periods between 10-14 years as early adolescence and late adolescence from 15-19 years. Adolescents aged 10-19 form more than one-fifth of Ghana’s population, slightly more than half of adolescents aged 12-19 live in rural areas and almost half attended secondary school.
A report entitled, “Protecting the Next Generation in Ghana: New Evidence on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs”, shows that 29% of 15-19 year-old females and 15% of such males have had sex. One in four young women and one in five young men have been touched, kissed, grabbed or fondled in an unwanted sexual way.
Encouragingly 92% of 12-year old adolescents have never had sex, never had a boyfriend or girlfriend and never experienced kissing or fondling. However, nearly two-thirds or more have heard of each of these activities.
The report presents findings from a new body of research on adolescent sexual and reproductive health in Ghana and is part of a larger project, conducted in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Malawi and Uganda, entitled “Protecting the Next Generation: Understanding HIV Risk among Youth.”
The project was designed to contribute to the global fight against the growing HIV/AIDs epidemic among adolescents by documenting and analyzing young people’s sexual and reproductive health needs; communicating the new research findings to a broad audience to raise awareness; and stimulating the development of improved youth-serving policies and programmes.
The report attributes the higher levels of sexual activity among female adolescents at every age to the fact that factors that influence adolescent sexual behaviour may be different for male and males. According to the report, the most common reason that adolescents aged 12-19 gave for having their first sexual experience was that they had ‘felt like it.’
Seventy-one percent of males and 45% of females gave this reason. It emphasize that the number of sexual partners that an individual has had and the type of relationship that he or she has had with those partners have important implications for reproductive health.
The report identifies coercive sex as not only undesirable but inherently risky, since contraceptive use is usually not an option for the coerced person.
In the 2004 National Survey of Adolescents, (NSA) females reported higher levels of unwanted sexual attention and coercive sex than males. One in four young women aged 12-19 and one in five young men have been touched, kissed, grabbed or fondled in an unwanted sexual way.
Females who had been coerced into sex reported that the perpetrators were most often acquaintances, whereas males who had been coerced most often cited girlfriends as the perpetrators.
The report revealed that although the majority of adolescents in Ghana agree that abstinence is important, only few have sexual behaviours that conform to this ideal.
The 2004 NSA shows that over 90% of both females and males and more than 80% of those who had ever had sex support the idea that adolescents should remain virgins until marriage.
Yet, only 15% of females and 5% of males who had ever had sex reported that their first sexual experience had been with a spouse or live-in partner.
The motivation for those who had never had sex was to avoid pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infection, (STIs), including HIV rather than to preserve their virginity until marriage. The report established that in spite of the life-threatening consequences of unprotecte
d sex, contraceptive use among adolescents is not as high as it could be. The most commonly used method among 15-19 year olds who had ever had sex was the male condom, used by 53% of males, 40% of females not in union and 16% of females in union. Other commonly used methods were the pill: 14% of females in union and 9% of those not in union.
The report suggests that the male condom requires special attention from programme planners and educators since it is the most available and widely used method of contraception among adolescents.
Survey results show that adolescents, particularly females, who discuss contraceptives with their partners, tend to use them. Indicating that when communication skills of adolescents, as part of a reproductive health programme are improved, it may help to promote contraceptive use and safeguard the health of young people.
The report says majority of females, regardless of their marital status express the desire to delay childbearing.
“This is important because the risks of pregnancy and childbirth are greater for young adolescents than for older adolescents and adults. Adolescent’s physiologic immaturity, in some cases compounded by poor nutrition puts them at elevated risk for complications during labour and delivery,” the report elaborates.
Despite these desires, adolescent pregnancy is common and varies by economic status. 48% of females aged 15-19 who had ever had sex and lived in rural areas had been pregnant, compared with one-third (35%) of those in urban areas.
The report said in in-depth interviews, adolescents recognised that formal education offers the key to a better life. They felt that through formal education they could achieve higher status in society and get better jobs.
It is quite obvious that neglecting the reproductive health needs of adolescents and the youth who form a significant proportion of the population of sub-Saharan Africa will have long-term adverse effects on the capabilities of our next generation, in particular the women
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