Population Action International : Passport to Ghana: Keys to Lasting Development

Reproductive Health Supplies

Passport to Ghana: Keys to Lasting Development

President Obama’s and his family’s visit to Ghana will explore strategies to promote “lasting development” in the region, the White House stated on May 16. The following statistics and information will provide background on the development issues facing Ghana, including access to reproductive health supplies, HIV prevention and the relationship between population dynamics and civil conflict.

Population Action International released a new study on Ghana in June 2009; links to this report and others are included on this page. Click here to download Passport to Ghana: Keys to Lasting Development.

Statement from Dr. Fred Sai on President Obama's Visit to Ghana

Below is a statement from PAI board member, Dr. Fred Sai welcoming the President and First Lady and their upcoming visit to a maternal health clinic.

Dr. Fred Sai is an advisor to the President of Ghana on reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. Dr. Sai was Chair of two major UN conferences on population and development in Mexico City in 1984 and Cairo in 1994 and also served as the Senior Population Advisor to the World Bank. As cofounder of the Ghana Planned Parenthood Association, he has played a critical role in shaping the country’s population policy over the past two decades.

Read the statement here.

The Shape of Things to Come: Ghana

With 68 percent of its population younger than 30, Ghana has a very young age structure. This rapidly growing and youthful population is driven by a high fertility rate, averaging 4.4 children per woman in 2003. Ghana’s fertility rate is actually among the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, but still well above the level needed to sustain ongoing population growth for the long term. Fewer than 20 percent of married women are using a modern contraceptive method and if fertility rates remain constant, the country’s 2005 population of 21.9 million would double in about 30 years.

Countries with very young age structures, like Ghana, face significant challenges to their development. Research by PAI and others has demonstrated that historically, these countries have been the most vulnerable to civil conflict and to undemocratic governance. Since its independence in 1957, Ghana has been a success story, maintaining peace in a volatile region and with the latest democratic transition of power in late 2008 and early 2009. Still, ensuring adequate education and employment opportunities for growing numbers of young people is a pressing priority. In the long-term, Ghana’s government can promote a more balanced age structure by addressing the 34 percent of married women who remain with an unmet need for family planning.

Read the full Population Action International report The Shape of Things to Come online at http://www.populationaction.org/Publications/Reports/The_Shape_of_Things_to_Come/Summary.shtml

Access to Reproductive Health Supplies in Ghana

Ghana’s policy environment is favorable for securing contraceptive funding, with very strong language promoting the importance of RH supplies to broader development issues. However, despite the strength of these policies, these issues are often eclipsed by other health concerns. Myths and socio-cultural beliefs about contraceptive use pose obstacles to the promotion of family planning, as does the lack of a comprehensive picture of the effects of maternal health on economic well-being and development.

Ghana’s fertility rate of 4.4, unchanged since 1998, is among the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa. Even so, the unmet need for family planning among married women ages 15-49 is high at 34 percent. Modern contraceptive use has increased from 13.3 percent in 1998 to 18.7 percent in 2003. Women with a secondary or higher education are more than twice as likely to use a modern method of contraception as women with no education. Likewise, women in the highest wealth quintile are more than three times as likely to use a modern method as women in the lowest wealth quintile. There is also a clear difference in the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) and fertility rate among those living in rural and urban areas. The use of modern contraception is three times higher in the greater Accra region (26%) than in the Northern region (7.7%).

Read the full Population Action International report A Case Study Of Reproductive Health Supplies In Ghana online at http://www.populationaction.org/Publications/Reports/Reproductive_Health_Supplies_in_Six_Countries/Summary.shtml

Ghana's Reproductive Risk

Ghana is included in a group of 24 countries in the “high risk” category for women’s sexual and reproductive health. The maternal mortality ratio (MMR), while comparatively low for a West African country, remains high at 560 deaths per 100,000 births. More than one-quarter of women are married before the age of 18. About onethird of women do not receive adequate antenatal care, and fewer than half of births are attended by skilled personnel.

Read the full Population Action International report A Measure of Survival - Calculating Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Risk online at http://www.populationaction.org/Publications/Reports/Measure_of_Survival/Summary.shtml