The Adolescent and Youth Reproductive Health under Edo State Ministry of Health has called on media practitioners to increase their support for matters relating to youth, adolescent and reproductive health in the state.
Miss Omonye Adeseiye, State Adolescent Health Desk Officer of AYRH made the call during a media round table meeting organised by The Challenge Initiative (TCI) in Benin on Tuesday.
She urged participants to work collectively with the passion of TCI which vision is to see the state as a place where young people are empowered to have optimal health and development.
She called for an increased voice and funding for issues that would improve adolescent and youth reproductive health in the state, where youths account for more than one third of the population.
She enjoined various media groups in the state to redouble their efforts and show greater commitment to AYRH advocacy.
Mrs Patricia Osazuwa, Edo State Reproductive Health Coordinator, stated that the meeting became imperative in order to guide the media on modalities towards informing the people so as to make informed choices.
“The state will eventually have a vibrant and healthy youth to help tackle the challenges of development,” she said.
She revealed that the Federal Government was interested in the state, adding that only Edo and Katsina States were picked for the enlarged RH meetings already proposed.
Dr Ben Emonena, Technical Support Lead for AYRSH Programme in Edo noted that knowledge of contraceptive services through the media was low , she therefore called for researches aimed at finding out why information appeared inadequate.