African Journals Online
INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN STUDIES RESEARCH REVIEW

Volume 18, Number 1 2002
ABSTRACTS

FAITH HEALING AND WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

Brigid M. Sackey

Abstract

This paper is based on several years of field research on African religious movements, particularly those led by women. It employs in-depth interviews, participant observation, collection of testimonies and case studies. It looks at how faith healing is patronised especially by women as a health delivery option. It suggests that, given the poor economic status of women, cultural beliefs, and the uncertainties of continuous medical services resulting from frequent strikes, or ‘alutas’ by hospital personnel, among other things, as well as the complementary role the churches play in health delivery, faith healing should be taken seriously by the national health delivery agencies. Faith healers include categories of religious personnel called prophets/ prophetesses, male and female pastors, divine healers, traditional priests/priestesses etc. In this presentation, I focus on the first two categories

KASENA NORMS AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

A. K. Awedoba

Abstract

Kasena reproductive culture is pro-natalist, pro-child and pro-offspring and this is obvious from their norms, sayings, and their institutions. This pro-natalist attitude is inculcated in children at an early age. These are not just glib generalisations. There is in fact evidence for this in almost all aspects of life, but we also encounter practices that appear to contradict this inclination such as the belief in spirits masquerading as babies with congenital deformities which are perceived as threats to the family and society and who should therefore be gotten rid of or the encouragement of social menopause in a pre-menopausal couple. A variety of other ethnographic facts mediate the tendency to place ultimate value in large family sizes

CONJUGAL MORALITY AND SEXUAL VULNERABILITY: THE ELLEMBELLE CASE

Douglas Frimpong-Nnuroh

Abstract

The Ellembelle believe that the institution of marriage is sacred and must also endure. In this respect, the proprietary rights of husband and wife must be protected hence the fashioning out of a conjugal code. The code delineates acceptable sexual behaviour, parenting and domestic responsibilities among others. The conjugal code eschews lasciviousness in both males and females, even though men in some respects get off lightly when they have multiple sexual partners.

It is known that certain risk factors and traditional practices may facilitate the spread of STD’s including HIV. Some of these factors are:  Permissibility of sex among people who intend to marry, the polygynous nature of Ellembelle society, widowhood rites that warrant the widow to sleep with a virtual stranger after her statutory period of mourning, migrant women who sojourn in Franzie (La Cote d’Ivoire) coming back home to their lovers etc and above all the poor condom culture in Ellembelle. Available evidence shows that AIDS in Ellembelle is real and until recently, female sojourners in Abidjan who return home terminally ill and die were believed to be accursed. In the light of knowledge on HIV/AIDS, the “accursed reason” needs to be properly analysed to establish the link between the risky behaviours of these migrant women and HIV/AIDS.

This paper discusses conjugal morality as perceived by the Ellembelle Nzema of Western Ghana.  It also examines human actions that constitute a breach of the conjugal code. The section on sexual vulnerability and the transmission of death is an attempt to portray how traditional and current sexual practices predispose people to Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) including HIV/AIDS. The final section deals with an analysis of HIV reported data from Eikwe Hospital in the Nzema East District of the Western region.

THE INCIDENCE OF SELF INDUCED ABORTION IN GHANA: WHAT ARE THE FACTS?

Clement Ahiadeke

Abstract

In Ghana, despite the growing number of studies, induced abortion remains a relatively unknown aspect of the national demographics. Interest in abortion research is, however, reemerging, partly as a result of political changes and partly due to evidence of the contribution of induced abortion to the high level of maternal mortality. A recent prospective study in Southern Ghana indicates that abortion rates in Ghana could range between 22 and 28 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age. Most of the abortion patients studied were young, some married and others unmarried. Results of logistic regression models suggest that those who work outside their homes, the self-employed, urban dwellers, single persons, women who have had a previous abortion, women with levels of education beyond Middle/JSS and Christians rather than Muslims are the ones likely to have an abortion. Because official statistics on illegal abortion do not exist and the numbers of such procedures must be estimated, the data presented here are the best available estimate; but they are not definitive.

FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION NEEDS OF SCHOOL CHILDREN: A STUDY IN AKWAPIM AKROPONG

Doris Essah

Abstract

Research on children’s Family Life Education needs has resulted in changes in the structure and contents of Ghana’s basic education for children and the development of policies for youth on their sexual and reproductive health. Since the 1990s there has been a growing amount of information and education from various sources—homes, schools, social clubs, and the media. The quality of information pupils gain equips them with knowledge and tools with which they can plan their future, even while they protect themselves from debilitating and fatal conditions, such as too early and unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS. Adolescence is such a relatively short and transitional stage, when a child develops into and takes on the roles of an adult, that it is necessary to continually study and discuss current groups of young people’s mundane life experiences. This paper presents the daily life experiences, constraints and aspirations of Junior School pupils in Akwapim Akropong, where education for both boys and girls has been encouraged for over 150 years, and residents experience the influences of both urban and rural life.

THE NUTRITION LINK WITH REPRODUCTION

W.B. Owusu

Abstract

The human body is made up of nutrients. This makes the food we eat and its reflection on our nutritional status and health especially crucial. Nutrition thus is a very important determinant of our biological and social welfare throughout the various stages of the human life cycle. This makes it necessary for us to show very practical commitment to ensuring the adequacy of the quality and quantity of food in our communities, in our cherished bid to prevent the incidence of disease, and thus promote the health of the public. The focus of this presentation is on the physiological changes that occur during the reproductive years, and their implications on nutritional needs. Specific nutrition-related problems, the various methods for assessing the nutritional status of individuals in their reproductive years, and the nutritional determinants of pregnancy outcome will be discussed. Recommendations for the improvement of the nutrition of people in their reproductive years will be made.