February 13

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2018
The other side of contraceptives
SEX AMONG teenagers has regrettably
become inevitable, particularly,
in second cycle and tertiary
institutions due to several factors
not excluding peer pressure.
While religion is playing a key role
to complement advocacy to ensure
abstinence, social pressure is pushing
our teenagers into very dangerous
life habits.
These days, it is common to find
students and pupils gleefully resorting
to the use of aphrodisiacs to
show their sexual prowess. Man
Woman, Chinese Spray and all kinds
of concoctions are being used as
sexual enhancers without recourse
to the potential side effects.
Some moralists had to succumb
to the call on the youth to resort to
the use of condoms to prevent diseases
and avoid unwanted pregnancies
because things were getting out
of hand.
The advent of contraceptives was
also meant to assist women take decisions
whether and when to conceive.
Experts posit that
contraceptives even go beyond a
woman’s decision to conceive or
not. They argue that the use of contraceptives
makes parents happier
and marriages last longer.
Naturally, hormone-based birth
control has some minor side effects
such as headache, dizziness, breast
tenderness, nausea, decreased libido
and mood swings among others.
However, doctors have assured that
contraceptives are safe if taken according
to prescriptions.
Sadly, that is not what is happening.
Some sexually active adolescents
are abusing all kinds of drugs
in the name of preventing pregnancy.
The famous Postinor 2 is now
daily pills for some teenagers in Senior
High Schools. Due to rampant
sex, these teens have resorted to taking
the pill on an almost daily basis
after each bout of sex.
But, experts have warned that the
misuse of the pills could create liver
problems and have suggested that
emergency contraceptive pills
should be used only twice in a year
or 10 times in one’s lifetime.
The DAILY HERITAGE
wants to stress that abuse of everything
is dangerous, most especially,
pills that have direct contact with
vital organs in a woman’s system.
We, thus, urge our teenagers to be
cautious about the use of contraceptives,
lest they develop complications
in future when they are
ready to conceive.
Don’t pay
increased fares
BY STEPHEN ODOI LARBI
THE GHANA
Private Road
Transport
Union
(GPRTU) of
the Trades
Union Congress (TUC) is
urging the public not to succumb
to any upward adjustment
of lorry fares since
they have not sanctioned
that.
Throughout last week, it
was reported that transport
fares had been increased as
a result of the continued
upward adjustment of petroleum
prices.
But, the GPRTU of
• GPRTU to passengers
• The GPRTU has an arrangenment with
the Transports Ministry to review fares
TUC and the Ghana Road
Transport Coordinating
Council in a joint statement
issued in Accra, Monday,
said such reports were false.
“We are alarmed by such
false information being
pelted round by some
groups of people who want
to bring the reputation of
the association into disrepute.
We want to assure the
general public that there is
no such increase and the information
should not be entertained.”
They added “we are by
this statement appealing to
our members to disregard
the information and comply
with the existing fares so as
to avoid any confrontation
with the traveling public.”
According to the transport
operators’ umbrella
group, they have an arrangement
with the Ministry of
Transport to review transport
fares periodically and
are currently in discussion
with the Ministry as to
whether there is the need to
increase transport fares or
not.