By Bashir Hassan Abubakar
In its quest to keep the public abreast and leave no one behind with regards to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services (SRHS) inline with the 2030 strategy, Marie Stopes International Organization Nigeria (MSION) has carried out sensitization campaign to Abdulkadir Ahmed Memorial College of Health Sciences and Technology (AAMCHSTECH) in Jama’are LGA, Bauchi State.
MSION’s Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) Officer (Bauchi Outreach Team), Muhammad Mubarak Abubakar, while sensitizing the students on SRHS said that the engagement is done with a view to having the students further enlighten the general public on the emerging trends in SRHS, especially during their community posting for practical.
During the sensitization meeting, the myths and misconceptions perceived by the public regarding the uptake of Family Planning (FP) services were cleared with facts and relevant examples.
Abubakar also reminded the students of their importance and roles in the society towards promoting equitable access to affordable SRHS for all.
He informed the students of the Toll-Free MSION Contact Center and also carried out a practical demonstration on how the center works by putting a call through and asking for support on where to access the SRHS.
Prior to the sensitization, advocacy visit was paid to the management of the institution.
The visit was a follow-up on the earlier visit in September, 2021 which was aimed at strengthening the relationship and collaboration between the institution and the organization.
The SBCC Officer informed the Provost of the institution that “the visit was to further explore areas of collaboration with regards to the provision of equitable and affordable SRHS to the public.
In his response, the Provost, who was represented by the Dean of Students’ Affairs, Mr. Katimu Yusuf thanked the SBCC Officer for the visit as well as MSION for its provision of free SRHS to the public.
The Dean appreciated MSION for finding them worthy of such collaboration and promised to explore all possible avenues to strengthen the relationship.
He added: “we are very happy with this visit. In fact, we will seek for your indulgence in giving health talks to our students especially those going on community posting during their orientation exercise. We (the staff) too will be glad to have you lecture us on the recent developments in the SRH area for us to update our knowledge since you are the ones on the field and you receive regular training and retraining”.
Also an advocacy visit to
the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) (Jama’are and Itas Gadau LGAs Divisions), as critical stakeholders, was carried out with the aim of equipping them with the activities of the organization.
The SBCC Officer informed them was to acquaint them on of the FP outreach services in the LGAs that was carried out between Monday 7th – Friday 18th March, 2022 in 20 different sites (10 sites per LGA).
In their separate responses, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and Divisional Crime Officer (DCO) in Jama’are and Itas Gadau LGAs Divisions thanked MSION for the visit and equipping them with the activities of the organization.
They all pledged to support the organization in the discharge of its duties.
Our correspondent reports that the Jama’are LGA MCH Coordinator and LGA Community Engagement Focal Person (LCEFP) were part of the team that visited the Jama’are Division of NPF while the LCEFP represented the LGA during the visit to Itas Gadau LGA Division.