Bridging Sexual Reproductive Health Gap between Young Girls, Boys
Gender inequality fights are very prominent amongst adolescents as adolescent girls and young Women face more stigma and discrimination in sexual and reproductive health matters than adolescent boys and young men. Ensuring that this gap is bridged was the reason for the launching of the project, Expanding and Scaling up HIV, Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services to adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in the Northwest Region of Cameroon, on February 23, 2023, at the Nkwen Baptist Hospital Chapel.
Led by Mrs. Awa Fanny, the Program Manager, the project will work to reduce health inequalities amongst AGYW in the region through empowering and increasing independence, creating safe communities, and scaling up the provision of quality integrated HIV, and SRH services.
In his welcome address, Dr. Manga Simon, CBCHS Deputy Director in charge of Clinical Services told the participants that the wind of change coming in the domain of HIV, SRH services for AGYW begins with them. Everyone was involved as they are all directly or indirectly implicated. Concerning HIV he said, “If you are not infected, you are affected”.
On his part, Prof. Tih Pius Muffih, Director of the CBC Health Services encouraged the participants to engage with young people in a friendly language, using the right terms to communicate, thus helping them to get tested, to adhere to treatment where applicable, and to break the stigma. “Counseling is no longer intense as HIV is a widely known topic,” the public health expert remarked.
Dr. Tayong Gladys, Regional Technical Group HIV Coordinator, officially launched the project while the CBC Director of Evangelism and Missions, Rev. Dr. Mokake Paul, prayed and had it dedicated to God.