COVID-19 had been a clog in the provision of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services to many women. How worried is the government about this?
The government is not only worried about SRH alone, almost every facet of health services is being affected now. It is the new focus of attention for everybody globally. SRH services do not standing alone, they are an integral part of service delivery. Many people at the onset of COVID-19 even refused to come to the health facilities.
Now, if you understand how SRH services for young girls run, one of the things that are done is to bring them together, educate them while re-orientating them and encouraging them to make use of youth-friendly clinics. But there is a pull-back to doing this now because of the need for social distancing. Certainly, leaving these services unattended may be fatal.
For instance, due to the pandemic, many people may not come for immunisation. But a reduction in the level of immunisation can lead to an increase in childhood diseases such as measles. If the tempo gained on immunisation wanes, we might revert back to what it was before.
Government is worried and thinking outside the box to make things work. We only see COVID-19 as a new challenge to make us do better and refine our methodology of doing things.
An increase in sexual offences and domestic violence is a prominent consequence of COVID-19. What is the plan to tackle this?
Because people are locked down and movement is restricted, boredom sets in, and as such, individuals resort to many things to keep busy. Sexual gratifications, exploitation or temptations also come around the consequences of which we are seeing.
We have seen an increase in rape cases, especially in Akinyele Local Government area. Some people say those cases had some ritual inclinations to them, but most of the victims were women and they were raped before being killed. So, definitely, one is worried about this.
No doubt, because at this period, there will be increment in such things as sexually transmitted infections and unplanned or unwanted pregnancies. This can have a longer impact on lives, distort life dreams, professional carrier progression and cause the cycle of poverty to continue in society.
We are not folding our arms. For instance, during this period, working with our partner on the A360 project, we were able to reach 13, 571 girls with sexual reproductive health services information. Out of these, 4,106 sought services. About 2, 957 girls that had been sexually exposed came to access contraception. This was in just two Local Government areas where the programme is being piloted.
How about the other Local Government areas?
We have started addressing it. We designed other ways to allow them to have access to care, so service provision has continue despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan is to scale it up in the long run beyond where we are operating now. Currently, we want to access the success the 9ija girls project had recorded and then see how we can scale it up, starting in areas with the greatest needs.
Our major challenge in doing this is fund. Certainly, we encourage A360 and SFH to help us to scale it up. But on our part, we are working on getting funds to give more attention to SRH issues among adolescents.
By and large, we also want to build capacity of our healthcare providers. The number of healthcare providers that we have is a serious challenge to ensuring these services are made available. Unfortunately, we are also faced with the reality of the economic meltdown due to COVID-19.
How are you ensuring that SRH services don’t leave behind girls in rural areas?
It is correct to say that SRH services are provided only in urban centres. At Akinyele Local Government where these services are rendered now, for instance, there are the urban, semi-urban and rural communities. It will be a wrong assumption that girls in rural communities are not exposed and could be a potential danger to society if nothing is done about it. We always look for areas with the greatest need based on data to intervene. Mind you, services are focusing both on in-school and out-of-school youths.
Meeting the sexual needs of young people hinge on the availability of commodities. How does the board intend to put an end to stock out of Family Planning commodities in its health facilities?
In recent time, we have not had issues with stock out of FP commodities. The adoption of the last-mile distribution plan has ensured that the commodity gets to the point of use and people actually get it. Aside from that, the state government also procures and distributes FP commodities as well.
At some health centres, women are forced to pay for FP services. How is this being tackled?
In government facilities, the policy is that FP services should be rendered free. If any of such exploitations is noticed, it should be brought to my attention. It is only in private facilities or hospitals that women are made to pay for services rendered. FP services are supposed to be rendered free because the commodities are provided free of charge.
However, the only challenge is when funding for consumables is not consistent, and to be able to continue to render service, the centre now charges little token. But the amount will not be the one that is so exploitative.
How have you tackled disruption to SRH interventions carried out in schools?
Our health facilities are opened in the community and since students that come to schools are from the community, they can actually go and access these interventions at the health centres.
For them to be able to access care without fear or intimidation of being judged by health workers, our providers are being reoriented not to be judgmental when it comes to young ones coming in to access family planning information and services. Of course, we also have youth-friendly clinics all over the state where they can also go and access services.
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