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Senior Advisor at Ipas Ghana, Selorm Azumah has asked Ghanaians not to allow their values and religious beliefs to ‘blind’ them as far as practicing safe sex is concerned.

According to him, so many girls of reproductive age are dying of unsafe abortion because parents, society and the church are refusing to educate their children on safe sex or the use of contraceptives.

He said girls who are sexually active, cannot be stopped from having sex; parents for instance cannot monitor their children 24/7 to ensure that they don’t engage in sex. Surely, they should educate them on abstinence but for those who can’t abstain they should be urged to use contraceptives to prevent STDs and unwanted pregnancies which can lead to unsafe abortion and which can lead to death.

“It’s not about bastardising these people when they get pregnant; it is about asking ourselves how we have failed as a people. How do we ensure that young people even if they are engaging in sex are protecting themselves? We must start from the perspective of safe sex because we cannot stop young people from having sex. So the question is; as long as we can’t stop them, how do we support them to protect themselves? That is where we begin to talk about contraceptives. Contraceptives is not only meant for married women; it is about reproductive health of women including the youth who are of reproductive age; So we need to teach them about comprehensive sexuality education which includes safe sex practices which includes the use of the condom or other contraceptive methods” he said at a one day workshop organized by the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG).

He urged that schools and the church should have trained counsellors who will give comprehensive counseling to the youth who are sexually active.

He also condemned the hypocrisy among the religious bodies when it comes to sex education. He said it is better to educate the youth than leave them to be ignorant and end up making mistakes which can cost them their lives.