Refusal to use condom behind 70% of teen pregnancies – Study  

Nearly 70 per cent of adolescent pregnancies in Ghana are due to the refusal of condom use by adolescent girls, a Ghana Health Service (GHS) report has revealed. 

The high rate of unprotected sex places adolescents at significant risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancies. 

Dr.  Kennedy Brightson, Director of the Family Health Division at GHS, made this known to the Ghana News Agency during the dissemination of the Behavioural Insights Study on Reducing Adolescent Pregnancy in Ghana. 

He stated that this situation calls for an urgent re-orientation of the mindset of adolescent girls to help curb the increasing rate of adolescent pregnancies in the country.  

Dr. Brightson also emphasised the need to address cultural beliefs along coastal areas and to interrogate systems that push young girls into early sex and childbearing. 

Adolescent pregnancy remains a critical public health and development challenge in Ghana, with an adolescent birth rate of 78 per 1,000 girls aged 15–19. Nearly 70 per cent of these pregnancies are unintended, often resulting in adverse health, social, and economic consequences. 

Dr Brightson said it was time girls began to prioritise the challenges associated with teenage and adolescent pregnancy, including fistula and other sexually transmitted infections. 

“Fistula is one of the big problems that develop with adolescent pregnancy. So, we need to do more with respect to education on these issues. This will enable adolescent girls to understand that they have more power now to demand the use of condoms. 

“They must be able to tell the boy that if it is not on, it is not in and that will prevent all the other health challenges that will come along with the use of the condom. Be it male or female condom,” he stated. 

Dr. Brightson said that the study findings should inform national policy, not just localised interventions. 

He called for multi-sectoral collaboration to address cultural perspectives, particularly among coastal communities, to effect meaningful change and reduce teenage pregnancies. 

“If we don’t look at the cultural perspective and we continue churning out policies that bring out other interventions, we’ll just be scratching the surface of the problem. But the root cause will remain the same,” he added. 

The study, conducted between 2022 and 2025 in the Greater Accra and Eastern Regions, was a collaboration between the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), UNICEF, and the Ghana Health Service. 

Although most interventions tend to focus on girls, the project concentrated on increasing consistent condom use among adolescent boys, based on findings that boys often hold more decision-making power in sexual relationships and are underserved by current Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) programming. 

Ms. Sharifata Mohammed, GHS Adolescent Health Programme Lead, explained that several barriers to condom use had been identified, including the perceived reduction in sexual pleasure, stigma and embarrassment around discussing or purchasing condoms. 

Others were the lack of awareness of the consequences of unprotected sex, and limited access to condoms in youth-friendly spaces. 

She said innovative interventions had been piloted, including condom distribution through betting shops, where staff were trained as “human dispensers” to distribute condoms and deliver non-stigmatising SRH messages to adolescent male clients. 

Ms. Mohammed stated that the intervention highlighted the value of behavioural science in developing culturally sensitive and gender-inclusive strategies for preventing adolescent pregnancy. 

She said the findings reinforced the need for programmatic focus on adolescent boys, rigorous testing before scaling up, investment in creative, community-based messaging, and expanding access to condoms through familiar, stigma-free channels. 

She called for the integration of behavioural insights into SRH programming, especially through engaging adolescent boys, as a potentially transformative approach. 

“The journey to scale must be evidence-led, youth-informed, and culturally grounded,” she added. 

Mrs. Charity Nikoi, Social and Behavioural Change Specialist at UNICEF, speaking on the study, called for improved stakeholder engagement to better protect adolescents. 

She emphasised the importance of collaboration between educators, parents, and health personnel, noting that “adolescents move amongst these three people.” 

Source: GNA 

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