A total of 799 teenage pregnancy cases were recorded in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem (KEEA) municipality in 2008.

The number was a reduction of the 810 cases recorded in the area in 2007.

Mrs. Gifty Amosah, a nurse at the Elmina Health centre gave the figures at a community  forum on teenage pregnancy and HIV/AIDS here .

The forum, organised by Giants of the Future International, a non- governmental organisation had the theme, Fighting Crime and HIV/AIDS through reducing teenage pregnancy."

It served as a platform for the participants to deliberate on and formulate strategies to address the problems of teenage pregnancy in the municality.

The forum was also used to launch a sensitisation programme to be held every Tuesday till December 15 to educate the youth in the evenings on the dangers of teenage pregnancy.

Mrs Amosah explained that the high incidence of teenage pregnancy constituted a problem for the growth of the fishing communities in the KEEA municipality.

Giving statistics, she said 783 and 809 teenage pregnancies involving 14 to 19 year olds were recorded in 2008 and 2007 respectively.

Statistics of girls between the ages of 10 and 16 years were recorded.

She mentioned poverty, unemployment, child labour and the desire for material things among the youth as some of the factors contributing to the incidence of teenage pregnancy.

She explained that teenage pregnancy also contributed to a reduction in female enrolment in school, saying that" a teenage mother when she gets the opportunity to go back to school is likely to perform poorly".

TIMES/AMA