A University of Cape Coast (UCC) Professor has advised the public to avoid having sex when drunk, as it can lead to serious personal and social problems.
Professor Eugene Kufuor Maafo Darteh, from the Department of Population and Health, said that many young people in Ghana were using alcohol and other drugs as sex enhancers, without considering the consequences.
He said that alcohol and drugs impaired one’s judgement and made one more likely to forget or neglect to use condoms or other contraceptives to prevent Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Infections (STDs/STIs).
He warned that this could result in increased cases of STDs, unwanted pregnancies, abortions and deaths, which could burden the health system and the economy.
The Professor of Social Dimensions of Sexual and Reproductive Health made these remarks when he delivered his professorial inaugural address on the topic: “Eating the Forbidden Fruits: Reflections on Risky Sexual Behaviours among Young Women in Ghana over the Last Three Decades.”
He noted that Risky Sexual Behaviours among the youth were still a major public health issue, despite the efforts of traditional, religious and legal authorities to curb them.
He mentioned that apart from using alcohol and drugs for sex, the youth were also involved in early sex, multiple sex partners, unprotected sex, age mixing (having sugar mummies and daddies) and early marriage.
He cited data from the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, which showed that in 1988, 43.73 per cent of young people from 15 to 24 years had sex before age 16 but reduced to 27.8 in 2014.
