Health: Integrating youth in policy formulation, the imperatives
@SimonEchewofun
To have a health policy that takes in the needs of the Nigerian youth, seven advocacy groups and the Federal Ministry of Health flagged off a programme, Youth Matters (YM) last weekend when it engaged about 70 young inmates at the Kuje Medium Security Prison in Abuja.
Although not allowed to mention their names and even their pictures, most of the inmates said engaging youth in health policy formulation is a good moved by the present administration.
Looking well kept and depicting a sober status, the inmates were glaringly excited about the health session adding that it was an opportunity for them to understand key issues about their reproductive health, drug abuse and mental health.
The like-minded advocacy groups include Silver Lining Initiative (SLI), KVS International, Mike Omotosho Foundation (MOF), and Education as a Vaccine (EVA). Others are: the Rotary Club Nigeria, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Ummah Support Initiative (USI) and the Federal Ministry of Health.
The lead facilitator, Hauwa Abbas Hadejia of SLI said the nationwide programme is pooling the views of youth across the six geopolitical zones on what their health concerns are and what policies should be formulated.
She noted that the Abuja session started with the prison realising that there are great potentials inherent in the young inmates.
On sexual health, Ekanem Itoro of EVA urged youth to shun immorality and follow safety rules. “You should always consult the doctor immediately you notice any abnormality in your reproductive health system,” he said.
Mr. Fasulu Olatubosun of the Ministry of Health’s Department of Planning, Research and Statistics along with the inmates identified the various forms of drug abuse including the wrong use of over-the-counter drugs.
“I take tramadol to relieve my pain but I know that I cannot sleep after taking it, and then I lose appetite,” an inmate revealed.
The youth unanimously agreed that doing drugs is detrimental to their health, and were advised to abstain from them.
A medical practitioner from the NMA, Dr. Patrick Ezie said signs of drug abuse and STIs could manifest in depression, madness and brain damage.
“The reactions from drugs are the same with the features of madness because the brain gets high all the time. Understand that madness caused by the abuse of drugs is difficult to cure,” he told the inmates.
Charting a course for improving a youth-friendly health system, the inmates who are between the ages of 20 and 30 years said there should be community health insurance schemes, especially for inmates, artisans and in rural areas, heighten the fight against fake drugs and their promoters, increase health education campaigns through the media and by organising seminars.
The Deputy Controller of Prisons (DCP) in charge of Kuje Prison, Akilu Abdullahi who spoke on the menace of drugs in the facility said: “We have issues of drugs and we have to embark on nationwide campaign. At the prison, since I took over, we are not taking it lightly.
“We tried and dismissed three of our officers over that and if you compare the rate of drugs between early this year and now, the inmates look sober because we are trying to cut down the supply of drugs.”
He lauded the initiative saying it will help to fine tune policies that would best benefit the youth in Nigeria.