Kwara Govt advocates early sexual education for adolescents
The Kwara Government has advocated for early sexual education to enhance young people’s understanding and improvement in their attitudes about sexual and reproductive health and behaviour.
The Executive Secretary, Kwara State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Nusirat Elelu, made the call on Thursday in Ilorin, during a news conference organised to mark the 2022 International Adolescent Health Week (IAHW).
She noted that this year’s theme is entitled: “Building a Case for the Visibility of Adolescents in Nigeria while Positioning from Pre-Pandemic to a Life Shaped by Pandemic.”
She stated that commemoration of the week are part of the efforts to further sensitise adolescents in ensuring that they are better informed and conscious of their health status as a result of changes in their body.
Elelu explained that adolescent care is extremely essential because it is the formative age, where body changes occured and any decision made at the time can make or mar the person’s life.
“The state government believes that it is essential for adolescents to understand their body and implication of actions they take which can either be good or bad.”
She stressed that the agency is strategising on having adolescent care centres in the core primary healthcare facilities in the state.
This, she said, would give them a chance for privacy devoid of stigma to express their feelings and challenges, so as to get the necessary total care.
The Adolescent Executive Director of Women Environment and Youth Development Initiative (WOYODEV), Mrs Tosin Apiriola, described adolescent age as a delicate period in life.
She emphasised the need for adolescents to be given attention and listened to, adding that they need to learn how to take care of themselves and speak out to the appropriate persons who will not take advantage of them.
Also speaking, the Desk Officer of Adolescent, Kwara State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Mrs Elizabeth Gabi, said the week would witness a grassroots initiative for young people, their healthcare providers, their teachers, their parents and their communities.
“It is an opportunity for us to come together and celebrate young people with an ultimate goal of working collectively towards improving the health and well-being of over one billion adolescents across the globe,” she said.
She pointed out that the outreach was carried out at ministries, churches, mosques and secondary schools, among others.
