9 Districts in Ashanti top underage sexual activity - GSS study
Nine out of 10 districts in the Ashanti Region have the highest rates of underage sex among females, a study by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has shown.
The report indicated that adolescent girls aged 16 to 19 had sex before the age of 16 years.
The districts are Akrofuom, Amansie South, Amansie Central, Amansie West, Adansi Asokwa, Adansi South, Asante Akim South Municipality, Bosome Freho, and Ahafo Ano South East.
The research and report, funded by UNICEF in partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency and USAID, utilised small area estimation to generate district estimates of indicators available from the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey.
The report was presented by the Director of Methods and Standards Directorates, GSS, Dr Peter Takyi Peprah, on the topic: "Adolescent Risky Sexual Behaviour and Utilisation of Maternal Health Services".
Underage sex
On a national scale, the report showed that all 10 districts with the highest percentage of adolescent boys engaging in underage sex were in the Eastern Region, of which about one in every three adolescent boys aged 16 to 19 had sex before 16 years.
The highest district is recorded in the Upper Manya Krobo, followed by Atiwa West, Upper West Akim, and others.
The lowest was recorded in the North East Gonja, Mion, and Mamprugu Moagduri districts.
Multiple sex partners
The report revealed that districts in the Bono and Western North regions had districts in the top 10 with the highest prevalence of multiple sexual partners among adolescent girls.
Also, all districts except one in the top 10 that recorded the highest rate of multiple sexual partnerships among adolescent boys, were in the Oti Region, led by the Guan, Nkwanta South, and Krachi Nchumuru districts.
The report on the Utilisation of Maternal Health Care Services revealed that five of the districts in the top 10 are in the Upper East Region, with districts in the Northern, Savannah, North East, and Savanna with one or more districts in the bottom 10.
In these districts, less than half of women had four or more antenatal care visits, facility delivery, and postnatal care.
Intervention
A Gynaecologist of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Athanasius Ayetey Larbi, said the report would help authorities to make interventions to address the challenges faced by adolescent girls and boys' sexual behaviours.
He said progress had been made nationally but the persistent intraregional disparities required intensified focus in the districts that were performing relatively worse than others.