Amid COVID-19, SFH, Oyo State address adolescents’ sexual, reproductive health needs

Adolescents were under pressure to determine their sexual reproductive health during the COVID-19 lockdown. 

Among challenges faced by adolescent girls in Nigeria today is their lack of economic empowerment which increases their vulnerability of to rape, sexual exploitation and abuse, and often leads to unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion.

As technology and the internet are shifting how adolescents and young people learn about sex, adolescents often have to piece together their own sexual education, or ‘consult’ their peers, making them vulnerable to misinformation and misadventure.

Worse still, the lack of economic empowerment is a leading cause of unintended pregnancies among adolescents. Coupled with the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown, the sexual and reproductive health issues of adolescents in Oyo State was significant. 

Towards mitigating this impact, the Oyo State government put in place measures that enabled targeted interventions.

As part of the outcome of these interventions, no less than 2,977 adolescent girls were able to access various types of contraceptives during the lockdown in the State even as 4,106 adolescent girls accessed facilities for sexual reproductive health services while 151 were treated for Sexually Transmitted Infections over the same period.  

Disclosing this during a media roundtable,  the Executive Secretary of the Oyo State Primary Health Care Board, OYSPHCB, Dr Muhideen B. Olatunji, said as a result of the targeted adolescent reproductive health intervention, a total of 13,571 adolescents were reached with sexual reproductive health information in the State in the last five months.

According to Olatunji, who spoke during the roundtable organised by the  OYSPHCB, in collaboration with the Oyo State COVID-19 Task Force, with strategic support from the Society for Family Health, SFH: “Despite the rise in COVID 19 pandemic in Oyo State and Nigeria as a whole,  the demand for basic needs of life and health services were not constant but increased. Lockdown does not lock sexual activities and its attendant effects among the young and old.”

Olatunji said the Board remained undaunted in  increasing services to ensure the quality of lives of young population in Oyo State through their existing facilities and networks 

“Despite the rise in confirmed COVID-19 cases during the lockdown, the demand for basic needs of life and health services increased in Oyo State. 

The lockdown did not lock down sexual activities and its attendant effects among the young and old,” he remarked, noting that the state primary healthcare board was poised to increase services to ensure the quality of lives of young population in Oyo State through existing facilities and networks. 

At the roundtable themed: “Meeting Adolescents and Young People’s Sexual Reproductive Health Needs during COVID-19”,  the Regional Manager A360 Project, Mr. Tunde Ogungbenro, lamented the plight of adolescent girls.

“Girls who seek sexual health care face a lot of stigma. They are perceived as promiscuous, so they would rather hide.” 

Oyo State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Alhaja  Faosat Sanni with the
Incident Manager, Oyo State COVID-19 Emergency Operations Centre,
Dr Taiwo Ladipo, during the media roundtable  held in Ibadan last week

 He said the A360 project is revolutionising how adolescent girls access sexual reproductive health services by providing appropriate platforms to impart skills for life, love, health and knowledge through network of youth-friendly services.

According to  Olatunji, the A360 project in Oyo State commenced intervention in September 2017 in Ibadan North East and Akinyele LGAs.

“It is a four-year project co-funded by Children Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation implemented in Tanzania, Nigeria and Ethiopia,designed to meet the sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescent girls aged 15-19 using human-centred design and youth engagement approach.

Currently, the A360 Project in Oyo State has so far mobilised 151,939 girls, referred 86,153 and redeemed 81,224. Since inception, 32,270 girls reached with contraceptive uptake in the State while 834 have been managed for STIs and 122 were pregnant.  

Lamenting the lack of strong structures and systems addressing sexual violence in the country, state and community,  he said adolescent's first point of contact in discussing  sexual and reproductive health issues should be their parents. 

Giving an update on the COVID-19 situation for March - July 2020, the Incident Manager, Oyo State COVID-19 Emergency Operations Centre, Dr Taiwo Ladipo, observed the general poor perception of risk by the public. He decried challenges such as the poor compliance with self-isolation guidelines, cases on home isolation,contacts of confirmed cases and poor turnaround time in the lab, amongst others. 

There was a general call on the State Government to scale up and prioritise protecting and improving Adolescent girls’ sexual and reproductive health, to mitigate some of the barriers adolescents face on their journeys, and empower them to work towards their envisioned future.