Availability of adequate potable water as well as good sanitary conditions are requirements for good health in any society. In order to illustrate the water and sanitation situation in Ghana, Fact Sheet No. IV presents data on sources of drinking water, disposal of solid and liquid waste, and access to toilet facilities at national, regional and district levels from the 2000 Population and Housing Census….Read More
Ghana adopted an explicit Population Policy in 1969. In 1994, the Policy was revised to incorporate emerging issues such as HIV/AIDS, environmental degradation, gender equality, protection of the elderly and persons with disabilities and promotion of the education and the welfare of children and the youth. Read More
Health has been defined by the World Health Organization as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. A population ensures quality production that will drive the development of a country with regard to labour productivity,education and wealth. Read More
The Government of Ghana (GoG) has committed to increasing the modern contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) to 30 per cent amongst married and 40 per cent amongst unmarried, sexually active women by 2020. Full implementation of the Ghana Family Planning Costed Implementation Plan, 2016–2020 (GFPCIP) by the GoG and partners will enable Ghana to reach its ambitious but realistic goals.
Comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights care, including family planning, is not only a health and rights issue. It is a developmental necessity, as it also improves livelihoods and promotes economic growth. Therefore, providing quality reproductive health services to women, men, and adolescents and ensuring consistent CPR growth is a priority for the GoG. Improving CPR and increasing the uptake of long-term family planning will provide multiple benefits to Ghana by accelerating development and reducing pressure on the nation’s resources.
Ghana’s success at her development efforts, particularly in reaping the demographic dividend and attaining an upper middle income status depends largely on the health of its people. With strong healthy, educated and economically empowered citizens, Ghana will prosper and thrive as her citizens would be able to contribute meaningfully to her wealth creation and prosperity. One of the best ways to ensure good health is through proper nutrition especially at the early stages of life. However, in many parts of the country, proper nutrition remains a big challenge especially among poor communities.
Good nutrition has tremendous benefits for individuals, families and communities in countless ways. It improves physical growth and intellectual development. This leads to better performance at school by young people and in the long run, greater productivity in the labour force as well as increased household wages thus lifting many families out of poverty. Recent findings associate 10.5 percent of all class repetitions in Ghanaian schools to stunting. This makes issues of nutrition exceptionally critical in our development efforts. A key way to improve the nutritional status of women, infants and children is through investment in Family Planning.
The National Population Council (NPC) Act, 1994, Act 485 mandates the National NPC to advise Government on population issues in the country. The NPC also has the responsibility to coordinate population programmes, set programme targets and promote the integration of population variables into national development planning to improve the quality of life of the people of Ghana.
In carrying out its mandate, the NPC is guided by the National Population Policy, 1994 and the Adolescent Reproductive Health Policy, 2000, both of which are reflected in the current Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda, 2014-2017.
In 2006, in the bid to set priorities and give direction to its work, the NPC developed the NPC Strategic Plan, 2006-2008. Since then a lot has changed, at the global, regional and national levels, including changing demographic trends and the revision of the National Population Policy and Adolescent Population Policy. This requires a review of the NPC Strategic Plan to make the NPC more relevant to the current development aspirations of the people.
The new strategic plan will redefine “a new relevance” for the role of the NPC in modern Ghana’s development process.
The general objective to develop a new Strategic Plan for the NPC is to ensure an effective coordination of population related programmes and activities in Ghana for the benefit of the of the Ghanaian population. The specific objectives are the following to:
Based on the following, a workshop was held at Forest Hotel, Dodowa, on 14th -16th December, 2016 to develop a Strategic Plan for the NPC. Participants involved in the workshop consist of four Council Members, a three member consultants from the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), management and staff Directors and Heads of Units of the National Population Council Secretariat, from Head Office, Accra and Five Regional Population Officers (Central, Western, Greater Accra, Brong Ahafo and Upper West).
The National Population Council (NPC) in collaboration with its partners, the Palladium Group, Communicate for Health (FHI 360) and USAID organized a visit to the set of the YOLO television drama series at the Adenta SSNIT Flats area. The purpose of the visit was to afford the USAID Global Youth Coordinator Mr Mike McCabe the opportunity to familiarize himself with the TV drama serial; assess the extent of how sexual Reproductive health has been incorporated into the YOLO TV Series and how USAID Ghana is managing the funds allocated to them.
In attendance were staff of NPC, Ms Joyce Amedoe. Ms Mary Gyasi and Ms Naomi Osei. Also in attendance were Mrs Serwaa Owusu Ansah (Fhi 360), Ms. Salamatu Futa (USAID), Mr. Jacob Larbi (The Palladium Group), the production team from Farm House and some key members of the YOLO cast.
Mr Mike McCabe, in his address to the audience at the site, indicated that there was the need to build the skills of young people and create opportunities for them to enhance their reproductive health wellbeing. He added that adolescence was a period of transition and there was the need for innovative campaigns like the YOLO TV Series which provides the platform for information sharing on reproductive health issues, hygiene and behaviour change.
An interactive session between Mr McCabe and the cast yielded feedback with majority of the cast attesting to the fact that their knowledge on ARH had improved as well as their confidence in speaking about ARH issues.
A meeting of the National Steering Committee (NSC) on Adolescent Reproductive Health Programming in Ghana was held at the City Escape Hotel, Accra on 8th February 2017. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Kwame Ampomah, Policy Adviser, National Population Council (NPC).
In attendance were the heads of institutions and representatives of key partner agencies in Adolescent Reproductive Health programming in the country, from the public and private sectors, development partners, NGOs, faith based organisations and the media.
The meeting reviewed the Terms of Reference for the Technical Working Groups that would support the work of the NSC. The meeting also provided a platform for partners to share programme updates and also to discuss issues that affect ARH programming in Ghana.
The National Population Council (NPC), the coordinating agency for the Ghana Adolescent Reproductive Health Project (GHARH) organised a two-day capacity building workshop to build the capacity of the cast of the “You Only Live Once” Television drama serial as ambassadors and role models for adolescent reproductive health issues (ASRH) and the GoodLife Campaign from 21st to 22nd of February, 2017, at the High Gate Hotel, Asylum Down, Accra.The workshop was attended by fifteen members of the cast as well as facilitators from the National Population Council, Ghana Health Service, the Palladium Group and Communicate for Health. The cast were taken through presentations on adolescents and young people in Ghana which highlighted key adolescent reproductive health issues such as abortion, sexual violence, impact of education on ASRH as well as policy and programme interventions using evidence based data. There were also presentations on the roles, rights, responsibilities and advantages of being an ambassador; public speaking; negotiation and decision making skills; the concept of adolescence, the major changes that occur during adolescence as well as the vulnerabilities and risks associated with adolescence.The cast undertook group work and presentation at plenary aimed at enhancing their knowledge and delivery skills with regards to ASRH and other related issues.
Feedback from the cast at the end of the workshop indicated that the issues discussed had been well assimilated. Specifically, the cast intimated that they were now well informed in matters concerning ASRH and related issues such as abstinence, adolescent contraception, HIV/STIs, pregnancy and abortionas well as the Good Life Campaign which focus on issues such as nutrition, sanitation and malaria and reiterated the desire to use their fame as a vehicle to facilitate behavioural change among adolescents and young people.
The Executive Director of the National Population Council (NPC), Dr Leticia Adelaide Appiah in her concluding remarks urged the cast to pay critical attention to the content and context of their messages as well as the characteristics of their audience since these factors determines the type of information they would provide. Finally, she expressed the hope that the cast would put to good use what they have learnt during the workshop and eventually boost the image of the YOLO brand and the National Population Council.
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) in collaboration with the National Population Council (NPC), Ghana Education Service (GES), the National Youth Authority (NYA) and other partners organised and launched the 2017 Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) Week on 27th March, 2017 in Kumasi, Ashanti Region under the theme “Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy, a Shared Responsibility”. The ASRH week is celebrated yearly to raise awareness on sexual and reproductive health issues and challenges facing adolescents and young people in Ghana.
As part of the celebration, several activities were organised prior to the Launch of the ASRH Week, from 22nd to 27th March, 2017. As a key partner, the NPC actively participated in the celebrations including school and community outreach programmes, ASRH Fair and radio discussions involving the YOLO cast. Issues discussed during these activities evolved around adolescent pregnancy, ASRH challenges of adolescents and counselling.
The NPC, GHS, GES/SHEP, the Palladium Group, selected NGOs and the YOLO cast who are ASRH ambassadors undertook outreach programmes to four schools comprising three Senior High Schools (SHS) and one Junior High School (JHS) in and around the Kumasi Metropolis. The names of the schools are Kumasi Academy SHS, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) SHS, Weweso JHS and AfuaKobiAmpem SHS.
An ASRH Fair was organised at the Manhyia Health Centre as part of the activities. At the Fair, counselling and educational information on ASRH issues were provided to both the JHS and SHS students present. There were facilitators/ resource persons to guide the discussions.
The NPC and the YOLO cast actively participated in some radio panel discussions organised by the GHS to increase awareness on the relevance of the theme of the ASRH Week celebration. The panel discussions were held on three radio stations namely Otec FM, Kessben FM and Kapital Radio in the Kumasi Metropolis. The issues discussed evolved around adolescent pregnancy and the ASRH issues portrayed in the YOLO TV serial.
The Launch of ASRH Week
The Launch was attended by over 600 participants from the Kumasi Metropolis and its environs. Also in attendance were representatives from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in the Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions. The national level representations were from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), National Youth Authority (NYA) National Population Council (NPC) and Ghana Education Service. The Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) were represented by Hope for Futures Generations (HFFG) and Maries Stopes International Ghana (MSIG). The keynote address was delivered by Her Excellency, Samira Bawumia, Second Lady of the Republic of Ghana.Also partners and dignitaries including the Executive Director of the NPC, Dr. Leticia Adelaide Appiah delivered messages during the programme. There were with cultural displays, poetry recitals and a brief role play by the YOLO cast (ASRH ambassadors).