More teenagers are getting pregnant in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region, a development that has become a huge worry for the health authorities and policymakers in the area.

One hundred and eighty teenage pregnancies were seen there, last year, as against the 2016 figure of 170.

Mr Dominic Dorbbin, the District Health Director, who announced this said all stakeholders needed to unite their effort to roll back the trend – to help keep young girls in school.

Mr Dorbbin told the meeting that HIV infection rate was also growing and said the number of cases more than doubled during the period.

He indicated that the reported cases shot up to 225 from the previous year’s total of 105.

Tuberculosis (TB) was, however, on a decline, with the number of cases dropping from 84 to 57.

He was speaking at an annual performance review meeting held by the health directorate to discuss the highpoints, challenges and the way forward to improve access to quality healthcare.

The meeting brought together health professionals, heads of department, chiefs, assembly members and other opinion leaders from across the district.

He applauded the health workers for their commendable work ethics and the passion to save lives and asked that this was sustained.

Dr Ofori Amanfo, Medical Superintendent of the Saint Martin Catholic Hospital at Agroyesum, highlighted the need for prompt referral of cases, to prevent complications and fatalities.

He added that the facility was well equipped to deal with all cases and what was left was for the health centres and clinics to refer to it for the treatment of any case they lacked the capacity to handle.