The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has recorded 53,415 adolescent pregnancies between January and July 2026, including 1,501 cases involving girls aged between 10 and 14.
The figures, captured through the GHS routine Health Information System, cover pregnancies reported at health facilities nationwide.
Speaking at a National Multisectoral Dialogue on the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy in Accra, Programme Manager for Adolescent Health and Development at the GHS, Sharifa Mohammed, said the data showed an average of about 7,000 pregnancies among girls aged 15 to 19 being recorded every month.
She warned that the current trend could approach Ghana’s estimated annual burden of more than 100,000 adolescent pregnancies.
Ms Mohammed stressed that the statistics represented young girls whose education, health and future opportunities could be affected, particularly when they lacked adequate support.
She also linked teenage pregnancy to school attendance, noting that cases were significantly higher among girls who were out of school.
“This is evidence that once we keep girls in school, we are bound to reduce adolescent or teenage pregnancies,” she said.
The Savannah Region recorded 117.5 births per 1,000 adolescent girls, above the reported Sub-Saharan African average of 104 per 1,000. In the Bole District, the rate among girls aged 18 to 19 reached 230 births per 1,000.
The Upper East Region also recorded more than 2,400 adolescent pregnancies within the first five months of 2026, with about 520 cases reported in the Bongo District.
Since 2017, the GHS has operated a “Safety Net” programme to provide adolescent girls with maternal and child health services, sexual and reproductive health education, psychosocial support, and referrals to social protection programmes.
Through the initiative, pregnant adolescents are supported to return to school in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service, where their circumstances permit.
Those unable to resume formal education may instead be connected to organisations offering vocational and livelihood training.
Ms Mohammed said the programme had so far provided sexual and reproductive health information to more than 310,000 young people, while about 54,000 pregnant adolescents had received services this year.
Meanwhile, Programme Manager of MSI Reproductive Choices Ghana, Clara Nyarkoah Anim, said several factors, including poverty, limited access to information and services, education, gender and social norms influenced teenage pregnancy.
She said Ghana had policies and programmes to address the issue, but their effectiveness depended on proper implementation, coordination, adequate funding and accountability.
Madam Anim also called for greater involvement of young people in interventions, arguing that they were better placed to identify the barriers affecting them and the opportunities that could help address the problem.
