Nat’l adolescent health education materials launched

Published : 18 Feb 2018, 16:26

Sahos Desk

The Directorate General of Family Planning of the Government of Bangladesh, Unicef and the Embassy of the Netherlands on Sunday jointly launched the national adolescent health education materials.

They also held a daylong adolescent health fair to raise awareness on health issues among adolescents.

The programmes were inaugurated by Health Minister Mohammed Nasim.

“Comprehensive Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials on adolescent health will surely benefit adolescent boys and girls by helping them to get accurate information and needful guidance as far as their overall physical and mental health and wellbeing are concerned,” said Edouard Beigbeder, Representative, Unicef Bangladesh.  

Accurate and timely access to information will not only help adolescents to make informed choices, but it will also support parents and gatekeepers to influence their children to take the right decision for a healthier life, he added.

The Health Ministry has taken the initiative to establish two adolescent-friendly healthcare centres in each upazila (sub-district). 

The service providers are trained to provide adolescent-friendly healthcare. 

The national adolescent health education materials will encourage them to receive care from the adolescent-friendly healthcare centres.

Limited access to credible information by adolescents often makes them victims of child marriage, early and unwanted pregnancies, abuse, exploitation and under nutrition. 

These push them into life threatening risks and also lead to death in many cases.

It is, therefore, crucial to provide adolescents comprising one-fifth of the country’s total population -– with proper information, education and healthcare related communication materials so that they may grow up to be intelligent, well-informed and responsible adults, said Unicef.

The launch of IEC materials and the adolescent fair were funded by the ADOHEARTS (Adolescent Health and Rights Enhancement through Innovation and System Strengthening) project led by Unicef and supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Source: unb

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