Strengthen the provision of Youth Friendly Services (YFS) to enlighten the adolescents and youth

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.

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.