Members of the club together with adolescent friendly health officials and Mr Alhassan Issah, Assembly Member for the Kwesi Plange Electoral Area, as part of the outreach programme, embarked on a clean-up exercise on Friday at Community One sites 2 and 20.

Mr Issah, who helped in the formation of the only community based adolescent club in Tema, two years ago, said the community must take adolescent health issues seriously and encouraged the youth in the area to join the club instead of engaging in immoral activities.

He reminded the youth to take their studies seriously in order to have a secured future adding that “taking tramadol and smoking wee is not the best, you are wasting away your life”.

He urged other Assembly Members in the Tema Metropolis to assist the Tema Metropolitan Health Directorate (TMHD) to establish adolescent health clubs in their areas to help educate and direct youth activities.

Dr John B. K. Yabani, Tema Metropolitan Health Director, on his part said the creation of the adolescent corners were necessitated due to the inability of the youth to freely visit regular health centres with their many mind boggling questions.

Dr Yabani added that most of the adolescents felt shy to ask their parents and teachers questions bothering on their developmental changes and sexual issues relating to their growth.  He added that even though a number of the adolescents visited the adolescent corners, others were reluctant to do so, hence the need to bring the services to them through the creation of the adolescent club in the community.

Madam Diana Bona, Greater Accra Regional Adolescent Health Coordinator, on his part, said a total of 36 adolescent corners have been set up at various public health centres in the Region.  Madam Bona added that the centres were being manned by trained adolescent health friendly officials who guided, and educated the youth on adolescent developmental and sexual issues.

She encouraged adolescents to visit the corners and join the 32 adolescent health clubs in Senior and Junior High Schools across the country. Miss Zenobia Tibil, President of the Kwesi Plange Adolescent Health Club, said the club which was started with 37 members embarked on health walks, health talks, screening and clean-up exercises to encourage their peers to lead moral lives.

Madam Dela Bright Gle, National Programme Analyst, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said her outfit collaborated with the Ghana Health Service to promote good adolescent health by providing funding for such outreach programmes.

Officials of the Domestic Violence Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) and the Social Welfare and Community Development Department also educated adolescents and parents in attendance on domestic violence issues and social intervention programmes respectively.

As part of the outreach programme, participants were taken through HIV testing, health screening, Body Mass Index (BMI) measurements and breast examination.