Introduction

Abstract

Introduction Stephen O. Kwankye and Chuks J. Mba The Population Association of Ghana (PAG), in line with its aim of furthering the scientific study of population and related activities with a view to improving the quality of life of the people of Ghana, organized a two-day Population Seminar in Accra in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service and the National Population Council Secretariat on 26th – 27th October 2005 on the theme: Population, Health and Development in Relation to the Millennium Development Goals. This book is the outcome of the seminar. A number of papers were presented during the twoday seminar which brought together over 100 participants from the academic, health, civil society and the media to deliberate on key findings of the research papers in relation to the overall drive towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The presentations covered issues of population, health, infant and child mortality, sexual and reproductive health of adolescents, HIV/AIDS and survival, water and sanitation, among others. The principal objective of the seminar was to create the platform to engage both researchers, policy makers/implementers and the media in discussions on the critical population and health related issues that should be subjects of concern in order to chart a common cause towards the attainment of the MDGs by 2015. Dr. Gloria Quansah Asare of the Ghana Health Service chaired the opening session of the Seminar. In her 1 Chapter address, she underscored the relevance of the theme of the Seminar for the development of Ghana. According to her, health (preventive and curative) is an issue for all members of the household and therefore should be of concern to everyone. She called on researchers to involve the health sector in their work and re-enforced the commitment of the health sector to such a process of partnership . She expressed the hope that there would be further discussions beyond the presentation of research papers at the Seminar as a way of informing policies towards the attainment of the MDGs. Prof. S.K. Gaisie, the Interim President of PAG, in his welcome address stressed the relevance of using science to solve problems that afflict the human population of every country. Describing the Seminar as a novelty from a young association such as PAG, he drew attention to the fact that population interacts with all development variables and cautioned that “we cannot postpone action because of ignorance”. He therefore called for serious attention to be given to research findings to direct the nation’s policy actions, emphasising that functional integration of population into development is what Ghana needs as a country if indeed she wishes to achieve any of the MDGs by the set date. In her address, Mrs. Esther Apewokin, the Executive Director of the National Population Council (NPC) Secretariat, acknowledged the pool of expertise the membership of PAG has and called on them to use their research findings to assist in addressing populationrelated problems especially towards poverty reduction as one key component of the MDGs. In the submission of Mr. Amadu Bawa from the UNFPA Ghana Office, who represented the UNFPA Representative in Ghana, he stressed that one of the main aims of the UNFPA is to ensure that any pregnancy is wanted and women are treated with dignity. He acknowledged that research could be very frustrating due to funding problems. However, one cannot make any development progress by ignoring research. He was therefore glad that the UNFPA was associated with the 2 POPULATION, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT Seminar and pledged the support of the UNFPA towards the publication of the Seminar papers to expand their dissemination. The publication of this book is therefore a fulfilment of that pledge for which PAG is very much grateful. The Minister of Health, Hon. Major (Retd.) Courage Quashiga, gave the keynote address. In presenting his address, the Minister did not hide his commitment to crusading a cause that would lead to a change in the way of doing things in the health sector. He was of the opinion that the population of any nation includes all ages that must be converted into human resource. He noted that of the eight MDGs, three are directly related to health and the other five indirectly. Quoting from the 1992 Republican Constitution of Ghana, the Minister of Health made it clear that the mandate of his Ministry is to reduce ill-health. He recalled that the Government’s approach towards the attainment of middle-income status by the year 2015 is founded on good...