Banyaka Health Centre on Thursday organised a daylong sensitisation forum on sexual and reproductive health for teachers and students of St Francis Senior Secondary School in Kunkujang Mariama village.
Sponsored
by Sant Just Solidari through Gloria Martinez, the event, which was centred
on family planning and the proper use of contraceptives, was geared towards
reducing maternal and infant morbidity and mortality within the catchment area
of Banyaka Health Centre.
The
programme, the third of its kind organised by the health centre, took the form
of a field day where students were sensitised on issues centering on sexual and
reproductive health.
Questions
were later asked and students who answered correctly were awarded prizes. More than fifty students won prizes such as
mathematical set boxes and books.
Officer-in-charge
of Banyaka Health Centre Abdoulie K. Baldeh commended their partners, Sant Just solidari through Gloria Martinez, for their continued support.
He
said that since the commencement of the project on awareness creation, the
number of family planning clients had increased, which has led to the adoption
of standardised and recommended birth control strategies.
Mr
Baldeh said the people of the community were initially not taking family
planning services seriously.
Banyaka
Health Centre committee member and a teacher at St Francis Senior Secondary
School, Musa K.A. Camara, thanked the health centre for the initiative, saying
both teachers and students learnt a lot during the forum.
The
principal of the school, Sang Marie Correa, also hailed the health centre for
choosing his school for “such an important activity”.
He
said: “I have learnt a lot and I now believe that family planning is more than
contraceptive methods or birth control strategies.”
