The National Population Council (NPC) has engaged journalists on how to intensify public awareness on population growth matters.

The need to create awareness was to help members of the public to make informed decisions about family size, reproduction health, reduce the menace of early parenting and other related challenges.

The meeting was also to provide a platform for journalists to make inputs into the redrafting of the Reproductive Health Education (RHE) guidelines of the country.

The meeting was held in Accra recently under the heading: “Review meeting on Reproductive Health Education Policy Guidelines.”

Executive Director of NPC Dr Leticia Adelaide Appiah, in her opening remarks, said it has become necessary with each passing day for population issues to be discussed in the media space like never before.

She added that the media plays a critical role when it comes public education, persuasion and awareness in achieving a certain behavioural change, hence the engagement.

On this score, she indicated that even though Ghana is one of the countries with a very youthful population (74%), most of them (24%) are exposed to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), due to lack of education.

According to her, poor knowledge of RHE is also impacting the lives of girls negatively, adding that over 100,000 girls become teenage mothers each year, at a time they must be in school or engaged in a career development.

Meanwhile, she said: “Age-appropriate comprehensive reproductive health education is essential for young people to be assertive to prevent, protect themselves and others against unintended pregnancies and Sexually Transmitted Diseases, a condition necessary for healthy adolescence and adulthood.”

Dr Appiah said the combined effects of this information gap are social, health, education, political, environment and economic challenges.

She explained that uncontrolled childbirth means surge in population growth, pressure on limited resources, high cost of standard of living, excruciating poverty, increase in the government budget to fight crime and public health concerns.

Dr Joshua Amo-Adjei, a senior lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, facilitated the meeting on the designing and introduction to RHE in schools.

He informed the journalists that that RHE would be a refined a version of the CSRHE, as it would be designed based on consultation with stateholders – religious groups, traditional leaders, media, NGOs and other players in the education filed.

A former Executive Director of Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Professor Kwame Karikari urged the journalists to prioritise population and reproduction health issues on their mediums.