Extracts below from a WHO news item. Read online: https://www.afro.who.int/countries/democratic-republic-of-congo/news/imp...
Kinshasa – Nineteen-year-old Armande [name changed] recalls her disastrous first visit to a health centre.
“It was awful,” says the teen from Kongo Central, in western Democratic Republic of the Congo. “I was younger then and looking for information on HIV, and the nurse there made fun of me in front of everyone because of my age.”...
To improve service quality, World Health Organization (WHO) has supported the implementation of an innovative collaborative learning project backed by the Global Fund. Service providers work together to identify, discuss and propose solutions for common problems – all while strengthening capacity and developing positive attitudes, which then feed into the health services provided to adolescents...
The new approach was evident right away when Armande visited.
“It was night and day,” she says, comparing it with her first experience. “The first thing I noticed was the way I was greeted. The nurse saw me in a private space and responded to my questions without judgment. I got advice on how to prevent sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, avoiding early and unwanted pregnancy, and how to use a condom. She did mention abstinence as the best choice but also acknowledged that it can be hard for young people like us to stick to. Most importantly, she corrected some of the misinformation that’s been going around.”
Service providers seize each opportunity to refute some of the most harmful myths in circulation.
“I had heard that the lubricant on condoms causes cancer, so I used to absolutely avoid those condoms,” Armande admits. “I also used to think that having sex was the only way to transmit HIV.”
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Neil Pakenham-Walsh, HIFA Coordinator, neil@hifa.org www.hifa.org
