The Central Region recorded more than 1,200 home injuries among children between October and December 2023.

The children involved who were between the ages of five and nine, suffered from burns, sexual abuses, and domestic violence-related injuries.

Ms Emma Delali Forley, the Regional Adolescent Health Focal Person, attributed majority of the cases to the carelessness of parents and caretakers.

She was giving a situational report at the Fourth Quarter Regional Child Protection Committee meeting which discussed challenges and successes chalked in 2023.

The meeting looked at some challenges of the Committee and deliberated on how stakeholders could collectively work to address issues of child protection.

Stakeholders including the Social Welfare, Department of Children and the Ghana Health Service gave updates on their various activities for the year under review.

Ms Forley advised parents to pay critical attention to their young children to avert such incidents, which could be life-threatening.

The Ado
lescent Focal Person noted that stakeholders must prioritise children’s protection, to enable them to make meaningful impact in the society.

She however, said the Region made progress in curbing adolescent pregnancy by recording 8,539 cases in 2023 compared to 9,734 in 2022.

The pregnancies were recorded among young girls between the ages of 10 to 19 years.

Highlighting some of their challenges, she intimated that sometimes health professionals faced threats and assaults from perpetrators of child abuse.

The Committee members appealed to the government to resource the various departments, to enable them to efficiently carry out their mandates.

Stakeholders were advised to get themselves abreast with current trends to enable them to make informed decisions in the discharge of their duties.

Source: Ghana News Agency