Conflicting HIV/AIDS Sex Education Policies and Mixed Messaging among Educators and Students in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality, Ghana

Ocran, Benedict Ekow; Talboys, Sharon; Shoaf, Kimberley

doi:10.3390/ijerph192315487

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Children who ask questions about sex are likely to be labeled as ‘bad children’. Regardless of whether it is actually practiced or not, chastity is upheld as a virtue, and abstinence is expected ( 43 ). Pregnancy before marriage is deeply frowned upon.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“We have nice policies but…”: implementation gaps in the Ghana adolescent health service policy and strategy (2016–2020)

Agblevor,

Darko,

Acquah

et al. 2023

Front. Public Health

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IntroductionAlthough policies for adolescent health exist in Ghana, their implementation is challenging. Availability of services for adolescent sexual and reproductive health and adolescent mental health remains less than desired, with adolescent mental health being particularly neglected despite being an important contributor to poor health outcomes. This study presents an analysis of gaps in the implementation of the Ghana Adolescent Health Service Policy and Strategy (2016–2020), including how and why the context influenced the observed implementation gaps.MethodsData for this study is drawn from 17 in-depth interviews with purposefully identified key stakeholders in adolescent mental, sexual, and reproductive health across the national and subnational levels; four focus group discussions (FGDs) with district health management teams; and 11 FGDs with adolescents in and out of schools in four selected districts in the Greater Accra region. Data were analyzed using both inductive and deductive approaches. The deductive analysis drew on Leichter’s conceptualization of context as structural, cultural, situational, and environmental factors.ResultsOf the 23 planned strategies and programs for implementing the policy, 13 (57%) were partially implemented, 6 (26%) were not implemented at all, and only 4 (17%) were fully implemented. Multiple contextual factors constrained the policy implementation and contributed to the majority of strategies not being implemented or partially implemented. These factors included a lack of financial resources for implementation at all levels of the health system and the related high dependence on external funding for policy implementation. Service delivery for adolescent mental health, and adolescent sexual and reproductive health, appeared to be disconnected from the delivery of other health services, which resulted in weak or low cohesion with other interventions within the health system.DiscussionBottom-up approaches that engage closely with adolescent perspectives and consider structural and cultural contexts are essential for effective policy implementation. It is also important to apply systemic and multi-sectoral approaches that avoid fragmentation and synergistically integrate policy interventions.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“We have nice policies but…”: implementation gaps in the Ghana adolescent health service policy and strategy (2016–2020)

Agblevor,

Darko,

Acquah

et al. 2023

Front. Public Health

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show abstract

“…Unfortunately, Ghana's national sexual and reproductive health education policy does not have an overarching policy. This policy was identified as a factor that could influence the orientation of school-based health educators creating disharmony in sex education interventions and introducing sex education messages that have the potential to create narrow curricula and limit overall HIV/AIDS knowledge (Ocran et al, 2022). Eventually, this program was discontinued because it was deemed ineffectively.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to HIV/ AIDS, 1.4 million people died in 2000 and it was counted 770,000 people died in 2018. According to the estimates of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (Ocran et al, 2022), Indonesia has the largest number of people living with HIV in Southeast Asia, namely around 540,000 people in 2021 (Khodayari-Zarnaq et al, 2021;UNAIDS, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementation of HIV/AIDS prevention policies: The study in Bali Province, Indonesia

Sumada,

Samudra

2023

J Infrastruct Policy Dev

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This paper presents an overview of the policies and efforts of the Provincial Government of Bali, Indonesia, to tackle the development of HIV/AIDS. This study considers the socio-cultural context and analyzes the factors that are most likely to influence its spread, the response of the community, and the local government’s efforts to form Provincial AIDS commission whose movement is supported by the village government and the community to suppress the spread of HIV/AIDS. The authors observe the micro factors that most determine this program, such as attitudes, behaviors, and desires of policy-making actors, stakeholders, implementing organizations, adequacy of human resources, financial funds, information, education, communication, advocacy, regional languages, the role of students, and field workers, and local culture in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. Therefore, this research does not focus on just one dimension in efforts to deal with this outbreak. Following the application of the public policy theory, all potential contributing elements must be addressed simultaneously. This requires a truly interdisciplinary and multisectoral approach that requires to be comprehended by policymakers in other provinces where the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is quite high. This effort also requires commitment and strong political will from levels of government.

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Considering Culture and Countering Mistrust: Organisation Perspectives for Adapting Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Ghana

Chubb,

Adewale,

Jarvis

et al. 2024

Sex Res Soc Policy

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Introduction Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is heralded as an effective solution to reduce acute sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues, particularly for young people. In Ghana, from 2019 to 2020, a co-ordinated campaign against implementing revisions to the CSE curriculum by national and international parties generated a polarising debate resulting in government pull-back from actioning the revisions. Whilst mainstream reporting predominantly focuses on political voices that either promote or discredit the CSE curriculum, formally documented perspectives of those working within service delivery are limited in Ghana. Methods To address this gap, in February 2020, an exploratory qualitative study was conducted using 16 key-informant semistructured interviews with practitioners from organisations delivering SRH in Accra, Ghana, to answer the question: In what ways might CSE be adapted to enhance SRH education delivery for young people in Ghana? Participants were asked their perspectives on the barriers and enablers of CSE implementation in Ghana. Results Utilising a rights-based approach as a theoretical frame for analysis, a hybrid thematic analysis approach revealed three overarching themes: (1) “It’s not anything strange”: The need to normalise young people’s sexual wellness; (2) cultural considerations and countering mistrust; and (3) suggested adaptations. Conclusions and Policy Implications Key informants described seeing the need for CSE in Ghana alongside cultural resistance to content within the curriculum. They called for CSE implementations to consider engaging multiple stakeholders in training to develop content clarity and suggested pathways for incremental delivery and adaptations at government and community levels to continue addressing issues of sexual wellness for the country’s growing youth population.

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Conflicting HIV/AIDS Sex Education Policies and Mixed Messaging among Educators and Students in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality, Ghana

Cited by 9 publications

References 33 publications

“We have nice policies but…”: implementation gaps in the Ghana adolescent health service policy and strategy (2016–2020)

“We have nice policies but…”: implementation gaps in the Ghana adolescent health service policy and strategy (2016–2020)

Implementation of HIV/AIDS prevention policies: The study in Bali Province, Indonesia

Considering Culture and Countering Mistrust: Organisation Perspectives for Adapting Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Ghana

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