UK Government is going to offer its assistance to Ghana aimed at avoiding unintended pregnancies in that country. According to the Department for International Development (DFID), the UK government will supply contraceptives amounting to £2.7 million to Ghana so that people there may avert unwanted pregnancies. UKaid will ship the first batch of the contraceptives to Ghana by October this year. Ghana Health Service (GHS) will receive these contraceptives and distribute them through various healthcare agencies to people.
“In October this year, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) will receive the first part of a delivery of 2.5 million doses of injectable contraceptives and 66,350 doses of implant contraceptives provided by UKaid – it is estimated this will avert 178,000 unintended pregnancies. In total, UKaid will provide up to £2.7 million worth of contraceptives over the next 15 months,” said the statement released by DFID.
“A woman’s ability to choose the number of children can have a major impact on her own health and that of her children, and their subsequent life chances. DFID is very pleased to be able to support the Ghanaian Government’s commitment to ensure universal access to family planning services, ” said Ms Sally Taylor, DFID’s Country Director for Ghana.
DFID also has plans provide support for family planning measures that will benefit almost 690,000 Ghanaians over the next year as part of National Family Planning Week. UK government will also provide funding for a new reproductive health project led by Marie Stopes International and IPAS, which will work in Ghana and 13 other countries in Africa and Asia.
“Over the next five years, this Preventing Maternal Deaths and Unwanted Pregnancies Program will seek to prevent 18,300 maternal deaths and 2.8 million unintended pregnancies.” DFID is also currently designing additional programs to strengthen family planning and reproductive health in Ghana, officials say.
