from Richard Owusu-Akyaw
The Sekyere Kumawu District Directorate of the Ghana Health Service has organised a durbar on family planning to sensitise residents about its benefits.
The benefits of family planning are said to include regaining strength after delivery, nursing mothers having enough time to take care of the child, the child growing well, and above all, helping to check population growth.
The District Health Director, Mr. Justice Thomas Sevugu, told the various women’s groups within the Kumawu township, who attended the durbar, that family planning was all about spacing of child birth, and not a means to stop anyone from giving birth.
“It is to prevent unplanned pregnancy, and rather give birth at the right time,” Mr. Sevugu opined.
He noted that the practice of family planning among women in the district was too low, pointing out that only 2 out of every 10 women practice it.
The Health Director revealed that the fertility rate of 4.5% in district was also high, as compared to the national figure of 4%.
As a result, Director Sevugu indicated that his outfit had targeted the youth for training on practices of family planning.
Mr. Sevugu added that nurses in the district had undergone training in modern family planning practices, and would ensure that community members benefit from their expertise.
The District Chief Executive, Samuel Asiamah, commended the District Health Directorate for the initiative, and asked that the programme be extended to the other communities.
Madam Gloria Adjei, who said she has practised family planning for the past 10 years, in a testimony, advised the women not to entertain any fears, since it enables one to give birth to healthy babies.
Madam Adjei again appealed to the male counterparts to embrace the concept of family planning, and not perceive it to be an only women affair.
Meanwhile, the Sekyere Kumawu District Assembly has organised a massive clean- up exercise at Kumawu to de-silt choked gutters, remove rubbish, and weeding at the health centre.
The three-hour exercise covered areas from the Barima Otuo Acheampong Street through to the Market Square, Etia, Apebiakyre, and ended at the Kumawu District Health Centre.
The participants included staff of the assembly, personnel from decentralised departments such as the Ghana Education Service, National Commission on Civic Education, Ghana Health Service, Police Service, and Department of Game and Wildlife.
The rest were youth organisations, FBOs, representatives from the traditional authorities and some assembly members.
Other prominent individuals who also took part in the exercise were the District Co-ordinating Director, Mr. Tony Kwenin; District Police Commander, DSP F.I. Zangina; the District GES Director, Alhaji Amadu Abudu; Headmaster of Tweneboa Kodua SHS, Mr. W A Nantwi, and the District Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Kwadwo Osei-Sarpong.
The DCE for the area, Samuel Asiamah, urged the people to cultivate proper sanitation habits to avoid communicable diseases such as cholera and the deadly Ebola virus.
He noted that most gutters within the Kumawu township were choked as a result of the indiscriminate disposal of refuse, and called for an attitudinal change towards sanitation in the country.
Samuel Asiamah announced that the exercise would be a regular affair on a rotational basis, which would involve market women, transport unions, youth organisations, churches and student bodies.
The District Director of the Ghana Health Service, Mr. Justice Thomas Sevugu, told the gathering that so far the district had not recorded any cholera cases, and, therefore, exercise was a preventive mechanism.
He also used the occasion to educate the public about the Ebola disease, and also assured the people of the preparedness of the district to deal with both the ebola and the cholera diseases.
Mr. Sevugu, who is also the secretary to the District Epidemic Management Committee, entreated all and sundry to observe personal, food and environmental hygiene, to avoid contracting any preventable disease.