FG assigns states on domestication of adolescent health policy

The federal government is working to guarantee that the National Adolescent Health Policy is domesticated at the state level, according to Minister of Health Osagie Ehanire.

As a result, he appealed to all stakeholders for help in ensuring that the policy is implemented at all levels of government in the country.

The Minister disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja on Monday to commemorate the 2022 National/International Adolescent Health Week.

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Ehanire said that a budget line for teenagers has been established at the national level, as well as a two-year national costed work plan and prioritized activities for the benefit of adolescents that will be implemented in 2022.

“National adolescent health policy is being domesticated at the subnational level, and frontline health worker capacities are being established and improved in conjunction with our partners WHO, UNICEF, and the Lafiya project, to name a few.”

“As a result, we are advocating for and putting out all efforts to promote effective coordination of adolescent health programs across the country,” he said.

As a result, the Minister urges all partners to duplicate the same structure in their own states to ensure the continuing delivery of critical gender-responsive services and to reduce obstacles to service access for adolescents and young people.

“To advance on Universal Health Coverage (UHC), Nigeria recognizes the need to maintain adolescents at the center of all programs focused on their health and development, in keeping with the objective that “no adolescent or young person is left behind,” he said.

“To ensure that “no adolescent or young person is left behind,” the Ministry will continue to work with all partners and stakeholders at all levels to support specific actions that effectively respond to the needs of various categories of adolescents and young people with varying levels of vulnerability.”

He emphasized the federal government’s commitment to ensuring that Nigerians, particularly adolescents and young people, have access to high-quality health care.

“Adolescents make up a considerable section of the Nigerian population (22 percent),” he says. Maintaining the health of adolescents requires appropriate investment and efficient coordination in order to accomplish the Sustainable Development Goals and Universal Health Coverage.

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“According to the National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS 2018), 19 percent of teenage girls are pregnant with their first child, 32 percent do not attend ANC, and 66 percent deliver without the supervision of skilled birth attendants, with HIV prevalence of 1.9 million, indicating a significant gender gap among young people.” This is made worse by the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on our already shaky health-care system.”