By
Benjamin Mensah, GNA
Accra, July 11, GNA – Dr Bernard Okoe Boye,
Member of Parliament (MP) for Ledzokuku Constituency, on Wednesday reminded men
that ”family planning methods are not only there for women but also for men.”
In a statement on the floor of Parliament, to
mark World Population Day, celebrated on July 11, he said family planning was
an effective population control mechanism.
The MP, a Physician, called for an
“inter-ministerial collaboration in ensuring that all females and males in
Ghana of child-bearing age are educated and provided with tools of birth
control.”
He spoke of the various methods and said “the
message is that many options are available and hence the need to increase
awareness and also scale up the provision of ante-natal and post-natal family
planning” to ensure planned rather than accidental, natural unplanned and
unavoidable occurrence births”.
He noted that “millions of women globally, and
in Ghana, in particular, do not have access to family planning services,”
adding that, family planning was a ”key factor in reducing poverty and
facilitating economic emancipation of vulnerable individuals and developing
nations”.
And “this is the very reason why the 2018
World Population day celebration focuses on family planning”.
World Population Day is set aside to raise
awareness on global population issues, and 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of a
conference that focused on family planning.
The day was chosen and approved by the
Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989. In 1969,
the International Conference on Human Rights was held, and for the first time
ever, family planning was affirmed to be a human right.
The Tehran Declaration, adopted during the
conference, states that it is a basic right of parents to be able to decide on
the number and spacing of the children.
The MP said planned families ensured good
health and that, children that were properly spaced stood a greater chance of
receiving quality education
“Also, women who exercise the right of
planning their family are a true demonstration of the demand of Sustainable
Development Goal,” Dr. Boye added.
GNA