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Health facilities in the Gomoa West District recorded 815 teenage pregnancies in 2009, as against 1,053 recorded in 2008. Ms Gifty Ankrah, Gomoa West District Director of Health Services, announced this during a meeting of the Gomoa Akyempim Traditional Council at Gomoa Darmang. Ms Ankrah said the problem had gone beyond the solution of the health authorities and called for a multi-sectorial approach to curb it. She advised parents to encourage their daughters, especially those in school, to go in for long term Family Planning methods in order not to disrupt their education through pregnancy. The District Health Director said the directorate had established three counselling centres in the District and advised the people to take advantage of the programme to know their HIV status. She said the directorate had instituted awards for Traditional Birth Attendants who would promptly refer cases to health facilities, and advised pregnant women to give birth at recognised health institutions. Nana Tweiku Bonsu VI, Chief of Darmang in a welcoming address appealed to the government to rehabilitate the roads linking the town to Gomoa Denkyira and Accra-Cape Coast highways, which were in a deplorable state. According to him if the roads were not rehabilitated before the rains started, the town would be cut off from the other parts of the District. The Chief said the town needed boreholes as the supply of water through their taps were very irregular. He said in view of that situation, non-resident citizens found it difficult to visit the town to contribute towards its development. The Omanhen of the Traditional Area, Obrifo Ahunaku Ahor Ankobea II, urged parents, particularly fathers, to exercise effective parental responsibility over their children. "Let us invest in our children to ensure a better future for them and ourselves," the Omanhen stated.