Following the underfunding of adolescent sexual and reproductive health services in Kaduna State, a One day meeting has been held to advocate for a Budget Line for the programme.
Organised by the Society for Family Health (SFH), the meeting brought together stakeholders from relevant CSOs, NGOs and MDAs to chart clear road maps to convince the government on the need to have a budget line.
An official of the SFH, Fatima Mohammad Mu’azu spoke of the commitment of the NGO to improving the sexual and reproductive health of adolescent girls and increasing the modern contraceptive prevalence rate, in the State.
She said under the programme, a workforce has been engaged by both the State and A360 project with the primary intent to enhance positive health outcomes.
The workforce include Young Providers , Facility Providers, Reachout Providers, Mentors, and Mobilizers, out of whom some were either trained on Counselling for Choice or Contraceptive Technology.
She also listed skills acquisition, girl empowerment among others, as part of a component called Matasan Mata Arewa project being implemented in Northern Nigeria.
Analysing the situation in Kaduna State, Mrs Jemima Menwyah of the State Primary Health Care Board disclosed that adolescent between 10 and 19 years of age who comprise 33% of the State population are at high risk of maternal mortalities and morbidities.
These problems arose from early marriage, teenage pregnancies, unsafe abortion, sexually transmitted diseases and other life threatening issues.
Psychological and social changes, she said, have exposed them to unhealthy behaviour such as early sex experimentation, unsafe sex and multiple sexual partners .
Mrs Jemima Menwyah therefore stressed the need for a separate budget line to drastically reduce the maternal mortality of adolescents by at least 60%.
The stakeholders resolved to team up through advocacy with a view to actualise the creation of the budget line
Earlier, the Acting Executive Secretary, SPHCB, Dr. N. Ilyasu who spoke of the importance of reproductive health noted that the sector was underfunded and tasked the stake holders to engage in useful deliberations towards achieving the desired goals.
Also in his goodwill message, the Chairman, Family Health Advocates in Nigeria Initiative, FHANI and Bunnun Zazzau, Alhaji Bala Muhammad Tijjani restated the commitment of the NGO to population control through Child Birth Spacing.
He assured the participants that FHANI was always ready to partner with other relevant NGOs in the advocacy for the budget line.
