Health
Stakeholders reaffirm commitment to adolescent health programmes
Stakeholders in Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) have reaffirmed their commitment to expand adolescent health programmes as part of a broader development agenda.
The commitment was made in a communiqué issued at the end of the two-day A360 Nigeria Annual National Pause and Reflect Summit on reproductive and sexual health for adolescents, held in Lagos from 18 to 19 September.
The report have it that, that A360 Nigeria aims to address barriers to accessing and using modern contraceptives and improve adolescent sexual and reproductive health..
The communiqué, signed by 18 stakeholders from the public and private sectors, traditional and religious leaders, and development partners, outlined plans to implement a multi-sectoral approach to delivering ASRH programmes.
According to him, expanding adolescent health programmes involves implementing a multi-sectoral approach to scale and deliver Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) programmes.
“This includes layering economic empowerment initiatives and second-chance schools to cater to the holistic needs of adolescent girls.
“Other commitments include meaningfully engaging and including young people and adolescents in programmes and government accountability platforms, such as technical working groups and implementation platforms.
“Domesticate the National Family Planning Procurement Guidelines at state level and explore alternative funding sources, including the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, Health Insurance, and Health Investment Funds, to mobilise resources for adolescent health and development programmes.
“This will ensure sufficient financing for these initiatives.
“Additionally, tackle cultural and religious barriers to Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) interventions by engaging influential community and religious leaders.
“These leaders should serve as frontline advocates and integral components of ASRH programme structures, helping to promote awareness and acceptance,” he said.
Stakeholders emphasised the importance of adopting national policies and implementing state-specific frameworks to enhance data reporting and management for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) programming.
They also stressed the need for sustained efforts to scale up adolescent development initiatives and girls’ education.
The participants acknowledged significant progress in advancing the Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) agenda, thanks to A360’s high-impact solutions.
However, they noted that recurring challenges, such as inadequate funding for Reproductive Health/ASRH activities, stock-outs of essential commodities, and ineffective data management, threaten to undermine this progress.
“Additional obstacles include socio-cultural norms and the need for multi-stakeholder collaboration to deliver ASRH programs effectively.
“To address these challenges, urgent action, political will, and commitment from decision-makers, political actors, implementing partners, and community leaders are crucial.
“This collective effort is necessary to drive the ASRH agenda forward.”
NAN reports that in Nigeria, A360 collaborates with young people and government health systems to improve access to modern contraception for adolescent girls.
It supports the Federal Government’s goal of achieving a 27 per cent Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) by 2030.
The project is currently implemented in four states – Kano, Kaduna, Nasarawa, and Jigawa – through the Matasa Matan Arewa (MMA) Programme.
Notably, A360 is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) in Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Kenya
NAN
Health
Stakeholders Applaud A360 Impact On Adolescent Health
Stakeholders in Nigeria’s health and development sector say the institutionalisation and scale-up of the Adolescent 360 (A360) Amplify project have greatly improved adolescent sexual and reproductive health outcomes in participating states.
They made this known at a dissemination meeting on the project on Thursday in Abuja.
It was implemented by the Society for Family Health (SFH) and partners, and later adopted into government systems following documented successes.
Launched in 2020, the A360 project was designed to provide adolescent girls with access to sexual and reproductive health information, youth-friendly services and economic empowerment opportunities.
The programme was implemented in Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna and Nasarawa States using a human-centred design approach that engaged governments, communities and young people to improve uptake of family planning and maternal health services.
Dr Aisha Sadiq, Permanent Secretary, Kaduna State Ministry of Health, said institutionalising A360 had delivered measurable improvements in adolescent health indicators and community wellbeing.
She said Kaduna currently provides A360 youth-friendly services in 623 Primary Health Care (PHC) centres.
The Matasan Mata Arewa (MMA) initiative, she added, had reached 75 communities and empowered more than 15,000 girls with entrepreneurship skills and seed capital.
According to her, more than 60,000 girls have accessed contraceptives through the programme, with a reduction in discontinuation rates as more young women sustain use and transition to maternal and child health services.
“These changes have shown a marked reduction in maternal mortality among those communities. It has also reduced negative neonatal outcomes,” she said.
Sadiq recounted an elderly woman’s remarks from a programme community, calling them a strong reflection of the project’s success.
“These girls have spent their whole lives believing they will remain tolerable liabilities to the husbands they marry, but now they are realising the value of becoming appreciated assets,” she quoted.
Sadiq added that Kaduna’s 16 per cent health budget allocation and the integration of A360 activities into the state’s 2025 Annual Operational Plan demonstrated sustained political commitment.
Also speaking, Dr Omokhudu Idogho, Managing Director, SFH, said the four implementing states had successfully embedded A360 approaches into government systems, community structures and routine health practices.
He was represented by Dr Kenechukwu Erichalo, Deputy Managing Director, Project Delivery.
Idogho said the project had reached more than one million adolescent girls with family planning services and engaged over 500,000 others with comprehensive sexuality education messaging.
“We recorded more than 50,000 antenatal care visits, ensuring that girls received skilled care that saved lives, and supported over half a million girls to learn income-generating skills,” he said.
He said A360 pioneered the MMA and Niger Girls models, demonstrating that culturally sensitive, human-centred programmes can succeed even in conservative communities.
“Our most significant achievement is institutionalisation. Today, all 1,750 A360-supported facilities are fully government-led,” he added.
Mrs Roselyn Odeh, A360 Project Lead, said the initiative was developed in response to poor adolescent health indices in the country.
She said the programme ensured respectful, youth-friendly services at PHCs and supported school reintegration and entrepreneurship for girls.
She said the decision to scale the programme in northern states was based on data.
“When you look at maternal mortality among young people, you know the section of the country it is coming from. Data drove our decisions in alignment with government priorities,” she said.
Odeh identified challenges including weak PHC infrastructure, funding gaps, commodity shortages and the need to engage husbands in conservative communities.
“But creatively, we worked with governments to mobilise domestic funding through health revolving funds and the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund,” she said.
Mr Sagir Musa, Commissioner for Youth, Jigawa State, assured of continued commitment from implementing states to sustain and expand the project’s gains.
“This project may be nearing closure, but for us, it has just begun. We have gone beyond its life cycle to embed its approaches in the things we do,” he said.
The dissemination meeting brought together policymakers, community leaders, development partners and beneficiaries to review lessons learned and outline future priorities for scaling adolescent health interventions nationwide.
(NAN)
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