There
are glaring indications in Kenya that the social fabric is increasingly
breaking with every passing day. Children get exposed to sex at a very early
age. Others get hooked up on drugs during their teen years. There are also increased
rate of school dropouts due to teenage pregnancies. In fact, Kenya ranks among
those countries with the highest adolescent pregnancies globally, with 26 in every 100 girls in Kenya being married before
they reach 18 years, according to Kenya Population Situation Analysis’s
report released in October last year.
Also,
according to the Ministry of Health, nearly 40 percent of unmarried women aged
15 to 24 have had premarital sex, and more than one in seven are sexually
active. A nationwide study by the said ministry in conjunction with the African
Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) indicated that there were over 465,000
cases of unsafe abortions in the country in 2012, the latest such survey.
These
in addition to other problems of drug and substance abuse, Sexually Transmitted
Infections (STIs), rape among others have a ripple effect on the kind of
problems facing the society at large. That is why concerted efforts are
required from the government, human rights groups, religious groups, the media,
parents and the general public in controlling these vices. Appreciating and
addressing these problems in an open manner means solving problems of poverty,
ignorance and diseases. It also means caring for generations to come. The
society can no longer bury its head in the sand because these problems are here
with us and they are real. We may shy away from talking about them for fear of
embarrassment but that way we only leave them to persist.
And
what better way to attend to such matters than to rejuvenate the provision of
youth friendly services (YFS)? Apart from
integrating these services into health facilities, a better approach would be to
increase the number of facilities offering exclusive youth friendly services. With
such services closer to them, the youth are likely to identify with the centers
offering them. They should be meant to provide the adolescents and youth in
general with information, communication and education on health, counseling and
examinations. They can also have a resource centre with materials on pertinent
issues affecting the youth and adolescents.
Where
there are constraints of establishing permanent youth friendly service centers,
mobile clinic approach can be incorporated into school health services so that
they can be taken to schools on specific days as a temporary measure for
increasing the presence of youth friendly services. Another option would be to
have specialized places for young people in each health facility countrywide
where they can be attended to in privacy.
As
a measure of appealing to and attracting the youth to such clinics or
facilities, there is need to train more service providers in dealing with the
youth so that they may be friendly and appealing to them and in turn improve
utilization of the services.
There is also need for increased funding from the government towards Youth Friendly Services to enable service providers offer these services at lower costs or, if possible, completely free of charge. This will enable the school and college youth gain access to such services without hindrance. Already existing centers and health care service providers should be advised to adjust the working days and hours so as to accommodate the school youth schedules. They could remain open for longer hours till late evening and also operate on weekends.
There is also need for increased funding from the government towards Youth Friendly Services to enable service providers offer these services at lower costs or, if possible, completely free of charge. This will enable the school and college youth gain access to such services without hindrance. Already existing centers and health care service providers should be advised to adjust the working days and hours so as to accommodate the school youth schedules. They could remain open for longer hours till late evening and also operate on weekends.
Periodic
evaluation of these services should be carried out so as to assess the
successes and failures of their delivery and identify more effective strategies
to address the constraints that may arise.
The youth also need to be sensitized through youth forums, religious gatherings, rallies and barazas on the availability of these services and the opportunities they offer. This will increase utilization of such services.
Peer educators in schools and colleges need to be regularly trained so as to complement the work of the health service providers in passing such information to the youth.
