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‘Negative attitude of hospital staff affecting Adolescent Reproductive Healthcare’
The attitude of some health staff at adolescent corners at some health centres in the Upper West Region has been identified as one of the barriers preventing adolescent girls from seeking information on reproductive health at the health centres.
The adolescents have said that they would rather speak to their peers than patronise adolescent corners to avoid jeering, insults and name calling from health workers.
This was revealed in a study by Necessary Aid Alliance, a non-governmental organisation in the Upper West Region with support from Plan International Ghana on “Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Information and Services (SRHIS)” by adolescents.
Explaining the research findings to participants at a dissemination meeting at Wa, the Executive Director of the NGO, Mr Mulumba Songsore said the issue was a source of worry as 36 per cent of a total of 541 respondents attested to seeking for information from their peers as against 20 per cent who preferred to use the health centres and adolescent corners.
“According to our respondents, some of the nurses are impolite, especially to young clients. Apparently when they go there with issues on reproductive health, they are yelled at, insulted and called names like nasty and ‘spoilt’ and are discouraged from going there”, he said.
Mr Songsore indicated that even without the impolite attitude of health staff, it was difficult for a young person to visit a facility to seek SRHIS so if the environment was not conducive, they would choose to rather rely on friends who were as ignorant as them and were likely to provide them with unwholesome information.
“We were curious as researchers to know what exactly they discussed with their friends by way of information seeking and we identified that most of the discussion (36 per cent) centred on sex life and relationship” he said adding that it was worrying because most of their peers would share information about their mistakes.
He said the lack of professional sources of information for the adolescents had led to unprotected sex, unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions.
“Allow me to quote this response from a respondent: in this community, adolescents who inquire about sexual and reproductive matters are viewed as troublemakers so we are scared to go to the clinic for SRHIS”, he said.
He added that the lack of privacy and confidentiality at the health centres also discouraged the youth from seeking information at the centres such that once the adolescent visited the health facility, it became common knowledge in the community.
“Imagine a girl going to the hospital for medical abortion and the next moment everyone in the community is aware of the incident and people begin to call her names, in order to avoid a similar incident, other girls would prefer to speak to their friends for unorthodox methods instead of going to the health centre”, he said
The NGO wants civil society organsiations to support the Ghana Health Service to provide regular training for health staff at the various adolescent corners to ensure their professional conduct.
From Lydia Darlington Fordjour, Wa
Massive celebrations were recorded countrywide as the Black Stars opened their 2026 World Cup campaign with a 1-0 victory over Panama in Toronto on Wednesday.
Midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi scored the only goal of the match late in the game as he shot in a decent cross from substitute Brandon Asante.
The win gave Ghana a positive start in the competition, placing them in second position behind England, also with three points but with a superior goal aggregate.
After the final whistle, the streets and other viewing centres were turned into partying grounds as fans, mostly clad in the team’s paraphernalia, danced to several World Cup-themed music.
Others blew the vuvuzelas in joyous mood with others putting up a spirited ‘jama’ session.
Former New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for the Adentan Constituency, Akosua Manu, has urged party members to move away from what she describes as an “entitlement mentality” and focus on unity, sacrifice and hard work as the party prepares for the 2028 general election.
In a statement titled “Is Loyalty a Queue?”, and posted on facebook, Ms. Manu argued that loyalty to the NPP should not be judged by how long a person has been in the party but by their contributions and commitment to its growth.
According to her, the NPP’s history shows that many of its leaders faced significant opposition from within the party before eventually leading it to electoral success.
She cited former President John Agyekum Kufuor as an example, saying he had to overcome resistance from influential figures within the party before winning power for the NPP in 2000.
Ms. Manu noted that after the party lost power in 2008, former President Kufuor faced criticism and accusations from some party members.
However, she said supporters eventually put their differences aside and worked together to rebuild the party.
She pointed to the experience of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who, according to her, faced opposition from some factions within the NPP despite his long service to the party.
“His trials were ten times what Kufuor endured,” she stated, adding that Akufo-Addo eventually overcame the challenges and became President of Ghana.
Turning to the NPP’s current flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Ms. Manu said he also faced resistance from different groups within the party while seeking leadership.
She praised Dr. Bawumia for contributing to policy-based political discussions in Ghana and for remaining composed following the NPP’s defeat in the 2024 elections.
According to her, party members must now rally behind him in the same way they supported former Presidents Kufuor and Akufo-Addo.
Ms. Manu, however, warned that internal divisions and a sense of entitlement remain major threats to the party’s future.
She argued that some party members place too much emphasis on how long individuals have belonged to the NPP rather than on their contributions and capabilities.
“This entitlement does not question impact. It does not ask what you sacrificed or what you built. It asks only how long have you been here,” she said.
The former parliamentary candidate cautioned that such attitudes could discourage committed members and prevent the party from selecting the best people for leadership positions.
She further called on the party’s incoming national executives to strengthen the NPP’s core values of sacrifice, honesty, integrity and dedication to national development.
Ms. Manu addressed the concerns of young party supporters, many of whom she said became discouraged following the NPP’s electoral defeat in 2024.
According to her, many young people remain eager to see the party return to power but are unwilling to support internal conflicts driven by personal ambitions.
She urged party elders to place the interests of the NPP above their individual goals and to demonstrate leadership that attracts rather than alienates members.
“The NPP is bigger than any one of us. It always has been. Our collective responsibility is to act like it,” she stated.
By: Jacob Aggrey
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