Geraldine Partington, Miss Malaika 2011
Geraldine Pattington winner of Miss Maliaka 2011 has visited two senior high schools in Accra as part of her project to prevent maternal mortality in Ghana.
Geraldine, assisted by two health service personnel from the Ghana Health Service, first visited the Accra High School and then the West African Senior High School to educate them on the prevention of adolescent pregnancy.
Addressing the gathering, Geraldine shared exercise books and copies of a magazine with an inscription ?youth for youth?, which educated students on teenage pregnancy prevention. This was sponsored by Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research.
Speaking to BEATWAVES, Geraldine said she would help reduce maternal mortality in Ghana through this project: ?This does not mean I am encouraging premarital sex. This education will help them make personal decisions about their sexuality but not encourage them to practice it,? she explained.
Speaking at the gathering, Rejoice Nutakor, a nurse from Ghana Health Service, spoke on concepts of adolescent health and advised students to abstain from premarital sex as that would lead to teenage pregnancy. She also warned students against unsafe abortions which could lead to their death.
She explained that 15% of young people died because of unsafe abortions adding that because most young people were ignorant they followed unhealthy methods which mostly ended up in teenage pregnancy. She showed them some of the preventive measures they could use if they happened to engage in premarital sex.
BY Lady Agyapong
