EPAG wants Reproductive Health
issues taken serious
Kumasi, Feb. 2, Ghanadot/GNA - Mr John Kwadwo Owusu,
Executive Director of the Environmental Protection
Association of Ghana (EPAG), has called for the
intensification of reproductive health education in the
country.
He noted that this would help to foster understanding
among Ghanaians of the crucial role that Family Planning
plays in the nation’s development agenda whilst also
reducing Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) for the
betterment of the lives of the citizenry.
Mr Owusu was speaking at a day’s workshop on Gathering
and Processing of District Specific Reproductive Health
Budget Lines in Kumasi.
It was organised by EPAG in collaboration with the
Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) with the
aim of co-ordinating targeted advocacy initiative for
Reproductive Health Supplies at the national, regional
and district levels.
The EPAG Executive Director said reproductive health
issues were not necessarily limited to contraceptives
for Family Planning but also included drugs to treat
STDs and equipment such as the ones used for safe
delivery.
Mr Owusu was not happy that contraceptives were
intentionally left out of the list of services covered
by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) because
it was assumed that they would be freely available in
public sector clinics.
This, he said, represented a tremendous lost opportunity
for Family Planning and funds generated to support some
of the needed commodities as Ghana had experienced a
shift in modalities of financing and budgeting for
contraceptives, including a success in the establishment
and funding of budget line items.
The EPAG Executive Director asked stakeholders to help
advocate the inclusion of Family Planning in the NHIS to
further develop the health sector.
GNA
