The Federal Ministry of Health has reiterated its commitment to improving the health of adolescents in the country and ultimately achieving health related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
A deputy director in the Ministry, Dr. Amina Muhammad echoed the commitment at a book launch in Abuja on Friday, March 24, 2023.
At the launch of the book titled: “Every Girl Health Guide”, Dr. Muhammad said, adolescence phase was a unique stage of human development and an important time to lay the foundations of good health.
She stated that in order to promote a healthy lifestyle for adolescent girls, the ministry of health would increase advocacy visibility in their technical working group at national and sub national level so that every girl could be carried along.
She described the book as accurate and relatable as it would align with the health needs and guidance of every girl, therefore, urged the author to ensure that the books get to the unreachable in the society.
The Executive Director, Gem Hub Initiative, Mrs Oyeyemi Pitan in her remarks, said the book is a must-have for every girl as it is informative and also demystify the issues of sexual and reproductive health while making the complex issues simple with relatable stories and illustrations to guide the girl child.
Mrs Pitan further called on all girls including parents to have the book as it explanatory.
Earlier in her remarks, the author, Mrs Aderonke Olisa who is a public health educator with years of experience in adolescent and women’s sexual and reproductive health programming, said, the reason she wrote the book was to have a compendium on all the adolescent girl needs to pull through their stage.
She added that, having the complete information was expedient in building and shaping the future of adolescent girls.
She therefore, called on government and relevant stakeholders to collaborate and support her to ensure that the book got to every child and also urged parents to get a copy to help them guide the girl child.
The sixty eight paged book has a content which would help girls, women and men to understand and navigate through the life stages of every girl in becoming a healthy woman and also build happier, self-confident girls who are accurately informed on growing up and navigating life.
